Under My Skin
by OriginalChocobo
Summary: Deemed at risk for a political assassination, Yuffie is placed, ahem forced,  under the care of a bodyguard. And who else could her protector be but Reno of the Turks? The ninja figures it's the worst thing that has ever happened to her... right?
1. The Theft

**Disclaimer- I own absolutely nothing from the Final Fantasy VII franchise.**

**(A/N) Alright, this one's for all the die-hard Reffie fans out there but before I start, I would like to give kudos to GlassMermaid for writing the fanfic Embitterment and to BruHaeven for writing the fanfic Hostage. I thoroughly enjoyed both and frankly, they inspired me to write this :) I encourage my readers to check out both stories.**

**This story will be multichaptered and long so bear with me.**

**Enjoy!**

**

* * *

**

_"Love is a serious mental disease."- Plato_

Reno slouched over the always-polished desk in Rude's office. He noticed it was bare of anything unessential aside from a picture of the Turks. It wasn't much of a surprise, seeing as Rude wasn't a personal type of guy. Reno raised his heavy eyelids to join the two l-shaped fingers in front of his face. Before Rude had the chance to flick the paper triangle in between the space, a knock on the door interrupted them.

Reno muttered an 'ehh' of allowance, his features unflinching, and a polished shoe tapped the tile inside the room. Reno could tell the shoe belonged to Tseng because it was light but it didn't clack like Elena's heels.

"Hard at work, I see," Tseng remarked.

"What work?" Reno replied.

"I wouldn't expect you to do it if there was any to be dealt with anyway."

Reno scoffed and looked back to Rude but he had put the folded paper down and was listening intently to Tseng, which gave him no other place to direct his fading attention to.

"Rufus sent me to tell you that you can take the rest of the day off." Tseng informed.

"Fun…" Reno lay back in the chair; arms crossed behind his head, and rested his feet on Rude's desk, staring out the window.

Three years ago, it would have been rare for Rufus to let even the most dedicated Turks leave the office early but after Meteorfall, all the robberies, all the arson, all the killing, everything just… stopped. And though it would seem great to most people, it didn't appeal to Reno at all. Dealing with the crime and being amidst all the action is why he took this job. Now, the average Turks life is uneventful and every day was routine: Come to work, screw with Elena, get yelled at by Elena, nag Rude, and get sent home early by Tseng. Repeat.

Reno heaved an inward sigh and dropped his feet from the desk before resting his elbows on his knees and looking over to a stoic Rude.

"Are you gonna come with me or head home?"

"I… think I'm going to head home." Rude answered. You didn't need to see through the sunglasses to know he wasn't feeling up to par today.

"Alright then," Reno seemed indifferent as he pushed himself up and out of the chair. He crossed his arms and looked down thoughtfully, then shrugged and strode past Tseng. Raising an arm, he muttered "See you tomorrow, yo," and closed the door without looking back.

Tseng shook his head in the slightest. Though he always thought Reno's antics were annoying and unnecessary, even crude most of the time, the absence of his childish pranks and remarks made this place dull and unlively. If a creative mind like his had become uninspired, Edge was really beginning to become almost too peaceful.

* * *

Reno shoved his hands in his pockets and forced himself to walk the similar path he followed everyday. Raising his head to the bleak gray sky, touched only by mile high buildings that desperately needed repair, his eyes shut and his feet paused as droplets of rain began to fall.

"Normalcy sucks," he groaned.

Just then, a shadow flashed across his face and his body tensed. He turned and cut his eyes at the sight he was met with.

That damned ninja.

Her face soured from a mischievous snicker to the expression a 4-year-old getting caught stealing cookies would wear on their face. Her eyes widened when she discovered he had drawn his EMR as did his when he saw her arms were cradling numerous orbs emitting a soft glow. His materia!

"The hell?" he half blurted, letting his thoughts flow to his speech. He was amazed at her stealthiness. Yeah, she was a ninja and yeah, she had the speed, flexibility and all that but she couldn't usually keep her trap shut long enough to actually sneak past anything effectively. It only infuriated him more when he realized she did have the upper hand. Without materia, his weapon was next to useless.

She carefully read his expressions. From confusion, to realization, to aggravation. The blatant cockiness welled up inside her again.

"Tough luck ginger," she grinned and stuck her tongue out through her teeth.

"GINGER?" he snapped at her and lunged forward. She threw a tiny gray pellet against the wet concrete and a sudden film of smoke obscured Reno's vision, tears filling his eyes to the brim.

"God dammit!" he managed to rasp curses at the non-existent girl through the outburst of his violent coughs.

_Where did she go? _He ducked into a narrow alleyway and leaned against the side of the nearest building until he could finally breathe again. _All I wanted was a drink…_An idea dawned on him. _Tifa!_

He flipped open his PHS and dialed the number of the bar. He coughed a final time before he heard a familiar voice on the other end of the line.

"Strife Delivery Service," _What a clever name, Cloud. _"You name it, we de-"

"Tifa," Reno cut her off.

"Reno…" her voice was apprehensive, "Something is wrong?"

"The ninja is staying with you guys, isn't she?"

"You mean Yuffie?"

"Yeah."

"Well she's just visiting but yes. Why?" The 'why' was dragged out with skepticism. He couldn't tell if she was defensive of Yuffie or curious as to what the girl had done this time.

"Don't worry about it."

"Re-" he silenced her with a flip of the phone, knowing she was going to be pissed when she saw him but he didn't have time to explain. 7th Heaven was about 3 blocks away.

* * *

The door slammed open, violently forcing shrieks from the bell attached above the frame. Tifa snapped her head up too see a tangle of crimson hair and panting escape a deep scowl.

"Where… is she?" Reno's words were staccato and full of malice.

"What the hell Reno! You're scaring away all my customers. What is going on?" Her eyebrows furrowed upward in a mix of anger, confusion, and concern.

Reno heard the voice of the girl who caused all of this up rise from behind him and quickly snapped around.

"I'm right here! Gawds, I swear you are _SO _loud," she calmly grinned at him.

"Don't get brave kid. Just give it back!"

She closed the distance between them to the point where her nose almost brushed his.

"What if I don't want to?" she challenged.

"Then I'll have to pop that head off that skinny, little body won't I?"

"You couldn't even touch me, Turkey," she scoffed.

"Listen brat-"

"Don't call me a brat, ya jerk!" she yelled.

"I swear if I e-"

"STOP!" Tifa interjected, clamping Yuffie and Reno's mouths shut with her gloved hands.

"Both of you calm down for two seconds and listen to me," her eyes seemed to glow a deeper red as she spoke slowly.

"Yuffie, you give Reno his materia back," Yuffie's muffled protests were incomprehensible under Tifa's grip, "And Reno, as soon as you have it back, get the hell out of my bar. As for the both of you, I wouldn't dare make a scene in here again. Do you understand me?"

Reno and Yuffie nodded in unison.

"Good," she released both of them and shot Yuffie a motherly glare.

Yuffie huffed and reached into several of her many pockets, pulling out glowing spheres and reluctantly placing them in his outstretched hands one by one. She finally crossed her arms and pouted at him.

"Yuffie…" goaded Tifa.

"Fine," she sucked her teeth and handed Reno his Earth materia.

"Now go Reno."

It pained him to turn around and leave while Yuffie still had that smirk on her face but he managed to go without embarrassing himself further.

* * *

**There's your first chapter :)**

**Reviews are welcome and appreciated.**


	2. The Grudge

**Disclaimer- Clearly, I own nothing from FFVII.**

**(A/N) This chapter's on the short side, as it doesn't really establish anything too important to the story. You could say it's just used to connect chapters 1 and 3. Nevertheless, here it is.**

**

* * *

**

"Fuck man. I mean fuck!"

Rude lay back in his sofa and listened intently to Reno's venting. It wasn't often that he got this upset over something so miniscule. He was angry enough to travel halfway across the city and burst through his door, shouting profanities at a battle that he overall won.

Reno leaned on the arm of his chair and exhaled. His head hurt from all of the shouting, running, and tear gas he had gone through today. He tried to force the pain to subside by rubbing his temples.

"Reno."

"Hm?"

"Why does she bother you so much? You only had easily replaceable materia on you and she ended up giving it back anyway," knowing Reno didn't like to admit his faults; he carefully read his face for the true answer.

"That's not the point, Rude."

"Then what is?"

Reno furrowed his eyebrows and searched the recesses of his mind for the answer but couldn't find one. After a long silence, he slung his jacket over his shoulder and walked out the door, looking back at Rude with guilty eyes.

"I'm sorry."

Rude was silent, letting Reno go and hopefully assess why he overreacted like he did.

Once in the elevator, Reno raked his fingers through his crimson hair and wondered. Why did he get so mad?

He didn't know. Something about her just really got under his skin.

* * *

The man was silent as his crimson eyes explored the room, trying to drown out the girl's frustrated mutters. Not getting involved was the best thing he could do right now, although it was his room.

"Mr. Know-it-all Turkey thinks he can tell me what to do. Who does he think he is? Just busting through doors and…" Yuffie angrily grumbled to herself while stuffing materia, questionably attained, into her tiny backpack adorned with Wutaiian symbols, pausing occasionally to swing her arms in the air.

Vincent let his elbows rest on the coffee table and brought his hands up to his mouth. She had been like this the moment Reno left the bar. He did not know a person could say so many disdainful things off the top of their head.

Yuffie blew an irritating chunk of her bangs away from her face before snapping around to Vincent, lost in his thoughts.

"I mean, don't you think so Vinnie? It's just so… UGH! Just like Godo!" she crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, letting out a sharp huff.

Vincent cringed, knowing that once he had been dragged into a conversation with the ninja, there was virtually no way out.

"Yes," he whispered, attempting to avoid confrontation.

"Yes?" she stamped her foot, "All you're gonna say is yes?" she mockingly waved her hands in front of her face and tried to imitate Vincent's unemotional tone.

"Yuffie, you're overreacting."

"Maybe I am but it's better than just skulking around all day!" she searched his eyes for any change in behavior. Instead, he returned her shout with an expectant sigh and she stood back up, understanding that he wasn't going to try and keep her here.

"So that's it?"

He looked up to see her cloudy discs brimming with an odd mixture of determination and disappointment.

"Yuffie?" Vincent was curious as to why she was so upset at him. She turned her back and began to climb out the window.

"Yuff-"

"In the morning, I'm heading back to Wutai for a week or two. See you when I get back."

With that, she dropped down from the ledge, leaving Vincent dumbfounded and unable to remove his confused stare from the window pane.

* * *

**Yay for cheesy title references :D**

**Review if you wish.**


	3. The Plan

**Disclaimer- I wish I owned FFVII, but I obviously don't.**

**(A/N) The story begins to unfold here so without further adieu, here's chapter 3.**

**

* * *

**

"You…. can't be serious. Tseng," his eyebrow twitched "please. Please tell me that you're joking."

"Why would I joke around about something like this?" Tseng continued to organize his papers in neat stacks.

"Because you hate me."

Tseng looked up and gave Reno a mockingly disbelieving stare.

"I don't hate you Reno."

"Then why would you do this to me?"

"Weren't you the one complaining that there wasn't enough excitement?" Tseng asked raising a good point.

"Well sure but-"

"Reno. You're honestly the best person I can think of for this job."

"You have no idea…" Reno lowered his head.

"Of all the Turks, I believe you're the only one that will be able to keep up with her."

The statement earned a whiny mutter but he chose to ignore it.

"Why does she need a damn bodyguard anyway? Believe me when I tell you that she can handle herself just fine."

"Yes that may be but it is necessary to take precautions. We must not forget that Lady Yuffie is still just one person. Until this type of threat dies down, you will have to monitor her."

"What about Elena? They could… I dunno… talk about girl stuff. She's gotta be better for the job," Reno begged.

"You're not getting out of this," Tseng calmly looked back to his papers.

"I hate you!" Reno yelled, glaring daggers at the man.

"As I was saying, Yuffie is conveniently leaving for Wutai tomorrow morning. You will accompany her on the way there and back and can use the helicopter," Tseng paused to look at Reno's exasperated face, "if you wish to do so. You might already know that she is staying at 7th Heaven."

"Yeah, yeah I know. How long will it take by helicopter?"

"About 6 days. Weather permitting and rest stops for the night included."

Reno let out an unnecessarily loud groan, arms falling limp at his sides.

"She can't possibly be that bad," Tseng assured him before pondering if she really was to himself.

Reno moaned before trudging out of the office and slamming the door behind him.

* * *

After some deliberation, Reno decided that she wasn't going to come with him peacefully, if that wasn't obvious enough already. But what took more thought was exactly _how _he was going to force her to go along with the 'bodyguard' idea. Reno grimaced at the idea as he carelessly steered his car one-handedly to the bar. The lights outside of the window melded as he pushed the gas pedal further. Maybe, trying to get her at night wasn't the best idea. She was a ninja after all. He swallowed all of his uncertainties as he stopped in front of the 7th Heaven, for once wishing it was a bit farther away.

* * *

_This is why I don't do incognito missions, dammit. _Reno struggled to keep quiet as he scaled the side of the building to what he thought was the girls room. A chilled breeze gusted past his poorly bundled body, threatening to unsettle his hold on the window but he tightened his grip and pulled himself up. _How does she sleep with the window open in fall? _He left the question unanswered and perched himself on the sill.

Peeking his head through, he could see the ninja in her bed. 'In' being the operative word. Her arms and legs weaved in and out of the sheets and she held a pillow tight to her torso with one hand. The other half of her body hung off the side of the bed, only visibly concealed by a pair of fluorescent green underwear, making Reno wonder what was behind the pillow. He shook his head of the thought and slowly began to stick his leg through the window. The redhead glanced up to see if she was still sleeping and instead heard her moan and roll over.

When he cocked his head to the side to get a better look, he felt his position falter and leaned forward to try to balance himself but tumbled onto the nightstand and heard one of its drawers and many of its picture frames crash to the ground. Reno rubbed his head to try and numb the pain, about to mumble a curse before realizing he was in the room. He pushed himself back up and turned around with a startling quickness just in time to see Yuffie stumbling out of bed with her shuriken.

"W-What the hell?" she focused her eyes on the nervous man in front of her and recognized his face with confusion and rage, "Reno!"

Instinctively, he pulled out his EMR and the girl's disorientation made it rather too easy to knock the weapon from her grip. She looked at her bare hand in disbelief before angrily clenching her teeth together. She lunged at him with her left hand drawn back to strike but Reno ducked and caught the punch before throwing her back onto the bed, straddling her and attempting to pin her arms at her sides. Yuffie managed to slink one of her arms from under him and knowing she didn't have enough leverage to swing at his face, she began pulling at his scarlet hair and wildly flailing her legs. Reno grunted in pain raising his hands to try and remove hers, only allowing her to tug with both hands.

"What the heck are you doing? Get out of here ya creep!" she began screaming, finally having found her voice.

The redhead panicked and tried to cover her mouth with his free hand, which she licked in response, making him pull away.

"Keep quiet, brat!" he fiercely whispered.

"No way!"

A sudden burst of light silenced them both, and they looked up at the door to be met with a bewildered Cloud. An awkward silence passed before Yuffie grinned at him, unable to shake the blush that had erupted on her face.

"Reno?" he rasped.

"Uh," he looked down at a restrained Yuffie, only clad in a sports bra and the aforementioned fluorescent green panties then back to Cloud whom was obviously waiting for a pretty good explanation, "it… really isn't what it looks like."

"Yeah," he paused, staring at the two, "I'm going to let Tifa handle this one."

He turned and walked down the hallway before Reno and Yuffie looked to each other, the urgency dawning on them.

"Tifa?"

Reno released her and started pacing around the room, clutching at his head, still sore from the ninja's forceful fingers.

"She-She's gonna kill me! Oh god."

"Yeah, you're not the only one who's dead Turkey!" she asked, scrambling through her drawers.

"WHAT!" they heard a distressed shout from down the hallway.

"No, you don't understand," he grabbed her by the arms, "She's going to _kill _me!"

"Well grabbing me isn't gonna help!" she shouted at him until he let go and she ran to the door, locking it before the wood convulsed with a hard blow.

"Yuffie! Open the door now," the demands were muffled but the dominance behind them wasn't.

"We have to go," he pleaded.

"I know that, duh! I'm trying to find some clothes."

He looked back to her, noticing she had already pulled on a pair of shorts and a backpack. Another blow hit the door.

"We don't have time," Reno grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the window.

"Wait, I don't have a shirt yet!" she tugged away from his grip.

"No. Time!" he repeated with emphasis.

The young ninja stopped for a moment to process the situation. Reno had broken into her bedroom and attacked her in her sleep. Cloud walked in and had gotten Tifa to take care of it. Now why was she escaping with Reno?

"Yuffie!" they heard yet another hard blow from behind the door, nearly but not quite drowning out the menacing shout.

Right. That was why…

"Okay," she complied and scurried out the window.

"Can you make the jump from here?"

She stared at him, insulted.

"Right," they dropped from the side of the building and rushed into the awaiting car.

* * *

**Tifa's pretty scary, huh?**

**Complaints or complements; feel free to let me know.**


	4. The Chase

**Disclaimer- If I owned FFVII, I'd be eating caviar instead of ramen noodles. I can dream, can't I?**

**(A/N) This chapter turned out longer than I expected but not overwhelmingly so. The fourth installment of Under My Skin. Hope you like it.**

**

* * *

**

Yuffie looked back to the nearly bare road they had left behind and exhaled in relief. Her mind raced with the events she can't believe just happened in the past 10 minutes.

"Safe?" he inquired.

"I think so…"

When the near-death experience tension eased, he looked over to the unhappy ninja who wore an annoyed look on her face. Deciding he should explain, he pulled into the parking lot near his apartment. With the engine cut off, the silence was more than uncomfortable. Yuffie raised her head and looked back to the Turk.

"Where are we now?" she asked, exasperated.

"My apartment," he replied as he exited the car.

"Why?"

"You said you needed a shirt, right?" he asked rhetorically as he shut the door.

The ninja shrugged and followed him through the chilly lot and into the lobby, understandably attracting odd stares. One of the doormen winked at Reno, which gave her the implication that this wasn't the first time he led a shirtless woman to his room. Unsettled, Yuffie pushed Reno along.

"Let's hurry this up please!"

He sighed at her bossiness and stopped in front of a door labeled '113' before unlocking it and walking through.

"Welcome to mi casa," he droned raising one hand. Yuffie looked among the pigsty to find one chair that was clean enough to sit on while she waited. The man emerged from the doorway to what she presumed was his bedroom and tossed her a white dress shirt.

"Clean, right?" she held it up.

"I'd be fine with shirtless you know," he replied with more cynicism than charm.

She groaned and slid her arms through the sleeves, beginning to button it up as she walked over to him. He raised an eyebrow to her and she slapped him across the face, earning a wide-eyed look of confusion from the Turk.

"The hell was that for?" he rubbed the side of his face.

"What do you mean? EVERYTHING! You just snuck in my room, attacked me and possibly tried to rape me!" Reno rolled his eyes at the last accusation "You had Boobs ready to murder me and dragged me halfway across Edge next to naked! Gawds what is with you lately? Just leave me alone!" she repeatedly poked him in the chest while yelling to ensure her point was made.

"Whoa! 'Just leave _me_ alone'? _You_ were the one who stole _my_ damn materia for no reason! _You_ were the one who attacked _me_ tonight. Not to mention Tifa was damn well about to hurt me before poor little princess and _you _were the one who decided to sleep with nothing on but underwear!"

"So I guess sneaking in my room in the middle of the night was my fault too?" she put her hands on her hips.

"I never said that."

"Then you DID try to rape me?"

"Yes," he brought his face closer to hers, "I couldn't resist myself."

He caught her stare, comprehending the sarcasm and wanting to know the real reason.

"It was my job."

"Wow," she stood up with a false sense of sincerity in her voice, "That is the worst excuse I have ever heard."

"Sit down."

She gave him a suspicious look before obeying and listened intently as he leaned against the wall.

"Godo was nearly killed yesterday."

Yuffie shot back up and grabbed at his shirt.

"What happened? Is he okay?" she stopped, "Who did it?"

"You didn't let me finish," he stated as he pushed her hands away. His eyes became quite serious as he explained to her.

"I don't know the details," he continued, "but I do know he's fine. I also know that you're a possible target for a similar political assassination. The trip to Wutai is very dangerous, and although I think you can handle yourself," Reno rubbed his head recalling the bedroom fiasco, "Tseng seems to think you need an escort. That is how I have, reluctantly, been assigned as your temporary bodyguard."

"Hmm," she nodded surprisingly analytical, "Why you?"

"Apparently I'm the only one who can keep up with you," he shrugged.

"Chya right," she scoffed, "So… why did you break in my room instead of just telling me this tomorrow?"

"Right… I didn't think you'd be too keen on the bodyguard idea so…"

"…So you figured kidnapping me in my sleep was a better idea."

"Yeah, Yuffie. I didn't think it through. I know that now," annoyance revealed itself in his tone.

"Oh well," she turned her back to him.

"I didn't think you would be so calm about this," he admitted a little puzzled.

"Why wouldn't I be calm?"

"Well, from my knowledge, Wutaiian royalty has a history of resisting bodyguards."

"We do."

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"That's not a problem because I don't have a bodyguard that can catch me now do I?" she turned back at him and smiled.

"Don't."

"I just want to see if your boss overestimated you," she shrugged nonchalantly before snickering and suddenly making a mad dash toward his balcony.

"No wait!" Reno chased after her and leaned over the rail, catching a glimpse of white to the left of his building.

"You're joking…" he mumbled.

Reno vaulted himself over the balcony and jumped down from his 2nd story apartment. He squinted, struggling to see through the slight fog that often encased the city at night. Through the haze, he caught another flash of white around the corner of a surrounding building and dashed toward it just in time to see her run up the wall and push herself to the next. Reno skidded to a halt as she climbed before running around to the other side of the building to wait for her. Once at the top, she waved down at him, earning a growl and leaped to the building opposite of him.

_How am I gonna catch her like this?_

He ascended one of the ladders attached to the closest building and sprinted up the numerous flights of stairs. Standing on the roof, he couldn't help but wonder how he got into this. He sighed sharply and searched for the girl, half hoping she had gotten away and groaned when he saw the familiar flash of white from the corner of his eye. He bolted toward it, clearly gaining on her.

Yuffie looked over her shoulder with confidence, only to have it shattered when she saw the redhead but feet away from her. Panicking, she attempted to dart ahead when she felt a slight tug at the oversized dress shirt she was wearing. Yuffie squealed as she felt she lost her footing for a second and saw the harsh concrete rushing at her face but countered it with a well-timed handspring and jumped across another upcoming building gap.

Reno teetered on the edge of the roof as he watched the girl escape. If it weren't for that acrobatic move, he would have had her. He sighed and looked down, surprised by the sight of a small detachable pouch, decorated with the same symbols that covered the girl's bag. He picked it up and brushed the gravel off of it. A sly grin spread across his face when he unbuttoned it to find a plethora of tiny gray pellets. The very same that she had used to blind him when she stole his materia. The sickeningly sweet thought of revenge crept through Reno's mind as he dashed toward the ninja again.

Freedom coarsed through Yuffie's veins as she once again felt the wind rush through her hair, the cold air leave trails of goosebumps on her arms, and the rough pavement rhythmically come in contact with her bare feet. Her devilish smile dropped and her breath hitched as she lost sight of the next building, her vision suddenly hindered by a cloud of gray smoke. Feeling herself lose balance, she raised her arms up to cover her face and tumbled on the roof, violent coughs racking her body and eyes filling up with tears. When the film of gas began to clear, she saw the outline of a man topped with a tangle of red approach her. Knowing it was her tear gas he had somehow got his hands on; she had difficulty trying to talk through her coughs but managed.

"Where did you get that?" she blurted, unsuccessfully trying to pick herself up.

"Where do you think?" he swung the pouch in front of her and snickered.

She glared at him and coughed once more before she could clearly see his more defined features. He brought his face closer to hers until they almost touched.

"Familiar, huh?" he smirked.

Yuffie frowned, recalling this exact same position in the materia incident, only now, she felt his pain and he was the one laughing.

"I hate you."

"Yeah well payback's a bitch," he smiled, obviously satisfied with the irony of the situation, "C'mon get up."

"No!" she retorted, "I'm not going and I'm never going to so you can just tell Rufus to shove it!"

He rolled his eyes, reaching down at the resisting girl and slung her small frame over his shoulder. She kicked and screamed, pounding her fists against his back angrily.

"Let me go! Lemme go!"

"Helicopter it is…" he replied, his voice drowned out by her strained shrieks.

* * *

Unbearably bright sunlight seeped through the semi-transparent curtains and threatened to force Yuffie to groggily lift her heavy lids. She took note that she was warm, no doubt in someone's bed. However, when it came into mind whose bed it was, she reluctantly rolled onto her back and sat up. She took a deep breath and looked over to a digital clock on the nightstand to the left of her. It read 11:54. Remembering the trip to Wutai, she slung her legs over the side of the bed and hopped off, stumbling through the open door to find her bodyguard leaning over the rail to the balcony. Recognizing the mess around her, she sighed and walked over to him taking in the morning, err nearly afternoon, air.

"Look who's still alive," he greeted, blowing out his last puff of smoke and putting out the cigarette.

"What happened last night?" she replied, letting her arms rest on the rail.

"Where do you want me to start?"

"I meant… when did I fall asleep?"

"You dozed off in the car…" he answered simply.

"And then…" she eyed him suspiciously.

"I brought you back here."

"And then…" she repeated.

"Let you sleep in my bed," he laughed at her implications.

"What about you?" she crossed her arms.

He rolled his eyes and turned back gesturing to a couch concealed in numerous blankets. Yuffie looked back to him and raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"What?"

"Oh nothing," she waved him off, still pondering how the redhead could actually be chivalrous if he tried.

"So do you plan on changing or are you going to Wutai like that?" he pulled her out of her thoughts.

"Oh right," she remembered, looking down at the dress shirt and shorts. She scampered back to the bedroom and shut the door behind her.

Reno sat back on the couch, prepared to wait until he heard the door creak open a little. He peeked over to see her bare arm waving through the opening.

"Reno?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you hand me my bag?"

"Why don't you come get it?" his smile was invisible to her.

"You know why! Duh!"

"Won't be seeing anything I haven't seen before…" he mumbled, secretly hoping and succeeding in firing the girl up.

"You have officially lost ALL of your cool points, Turkey!"

"So I had cool points?" he snickered.

"Reno!" she furiously waved her arm through the door until he finally surrendered.

"Alright, alright…" he cautiously swung the bag just in her reach, making sure she didn't rip his arm off in the process. She snatched it and he watched the bag and her hand retreat behind the door, which slammed all too close to his face.

Sitting back down, he must have waited a good 10 minutes before she emerged from the room with her hands in the air. Her black headband pulled the sepia bangs from her onyx eyes. She donned a black floral top that exposed her midriff underneath a cropped, black vest on which she left the hood down. Her left forearm was concealed with loose-fitting cloth and she wore a white wristband on the opposite arm. Her khaki shorts were riddled with pockets and detachable pouches. He let his eyes rove down her bare legs until his stare hit her long black stockings which were overlapped by gray, knee high boots that were very neatly laced.

"Ta-da!" she exclaimed.

Reno sat back in the chair and let his chin rest on his fist, his expression a flawless mask of boredom. Turks had a certain way of perfecting their poker faces.

"So are you ready or what?" he asked, concealing his initial impression.

"Gee," Yuffie's arms dropped and her face fell, "Thanks for the feedback…"

He stood up directly and looked down only slightly on the girl, realizing how tall she had become. She stared back up at him stubbornly, putting her hands on her hips.

"So?" he questioned.

"So what?"

Reno huffed, "Are you ready for the fourth time?"

"Third," she stated, her voice was tinged with a corrective sting.

He raised his hands with mock defensiveness.

_How in the world am I gonna put up with her for two weeks? _He asked himself a very reasonable question seeing as the morning had soured into an awkward feud within a half hour.

The girl waved a hand in front of his face, waking him from a daze he wasn't quite sure he had entered and he looked back down at her expectantly.

"Yeah, I'm ready," she answered with a half smile so sweet; he couldn't tell if it was intended to be sarcastic, apologetic or both.

"Alright then, let's go," he twisted around and opened the door. The little ninja swung the backpack over her shoulders before hurrying after him.

* * *

**Yes two weeks. A grand total of 6 days going, 2 days there, and another 6 on the way back.**

**I apologize if there was any lack of clarity during the chase. It was harder to write than I expected.**

**Reviews, reviews, reviews.**


	5. The Helicopter

**Disclaimer- I own nothing from FFVII**

**(A/N) Yes, Yuffie does know her way around the WRO building because this takes place shortly after the events of Dirge Of Cerberus. But let's pretend that she decided to go back to the outfit she wore in Advent Children ;) Here goes chapter 5.**

**

* * *

**

"Hell no," Reno declared.

"Pleeeeaaassseee," the girl slouched over, her arms swinging downward lazily as she pleaded.

Reno ignored her complaints as he navigated the simple hallways of the WRO building's top floor. The ninja didn't miss a step, much to his dismay, seeing as she had actually done her fair share of work here too. He heard her huff behind him as he stopped in front of the security door and slipped a hand in his cobalt jacket.

"But I'm sooo hungry," she prodded.

"I don't care," he retorted, holding his identification pass to the scanner as it skimmed a blue light along its edges.

"I thought we were friends," the ninja lied in a last ditch effort to manipulate the redhead into buying her breakfast.

"Nope," he almost smirked as the door opened to reveal the helipad and the black beast resting on it. The twin rotors were already beating the surrounding air, whipping the pair's locks about their faces. Reno snickered at the girl attempting to bat the hair out of her eyes. After a couple minutes of struggle, she gave in and crossed her arms muttering a 'whatever' that wasn't even close to audible in the presence of the roaring blades.

"Can we go now!" she screamed to make sure her voice was heard.

Reno simply nodded and approached the helicopter, looking back and gesturing to the other side for the ninja. She shuffled over to the opposite side of the aircraft and stared in awe at the giant machine, suddenly hesitant about getting inside. Yuffie was shocked at her own cowardice as her breathing became labored. The Turk opened her door from the inside and shot her a puzzled stare. Yuffie swallowed her fears and hoisted herself into the seat; unable to bear the thought of what Reno would make her go through if she had refused.

She noticed he was wearing a pair of what looked like headphones and pointed to them questioningly. He sighed and handed her a pair, which she fiddled with before putting them on properly and giving him a thumbs up that he didn't notice as he began pushing various buttons and pulling levers with a deft swiftness.

"WHAT ARE THESE FOR?" Yuffie hollered as she held the headset to her ears, assuming they were designed to keep noise to a minimum but wanted to be sure.

Reno cringed and snapped back to the ninja, his ears ringing with pain.

"THIS!" he shouted back into the miniature microphone, earning a wince from the girl who now understood that they were for communication purposes.

"Okay! Geez!" she punched him in the arm before he returned to fiddling with the controls. Yuffie was surprised at his seriousness as he grabbed the mic and began muttering code she didn't understand.

"B-13 requesting clearance," he finally sat back and waited after Yuffie heard the only thing she could somewhat understand.

"What?" she kept her voice low, not wanting another ear-piercing outcry from Reno.

"Waiting to take off," he answered simply.

"Hm," Yuffie comprehended as she surveyed him. His lanky frame was slouched over as he ran a hand through his messy garnet hair, patiently waiting for a response over the intercom-like system.

Reno turned to find the girl staring at him as she twiddled her fingers aimlessly.

"Yeah?"

"Huh?" she snapped out of her daze, "Oh nothing," she lay back in the seat.

He shrugged as they sat in silence for a few long moments until a scratchy voice became clear over the headset.

"B-13 submit your take off code."

Reno replied without hesitation, "F02, 12, 96."

"Permission granted," at the words, Yuffie became uneasy again.

"Alright," Reno grinned, all the maturity wiped off his face as he grabbed a hold of a contraption that resembled a complicated joystick.

The large mechanism began to shift and hover above the helipad, predictably causing Yuffie to clutch her stomach which seemed to stay on the ground in stark contrast to the helicopter.

"Oh Leviathan… I'm not here. I'm someplace else. I'm on my feet someplace else…" she started mumbling to keep her sanity under wraps.

As Reno ascended to a more comfortable height, Yuffie couldn't keep her stomach from doing backflips and searched through the plethora of controls to find something to lower the window and panicked at all the strange symbols that covered them.

"Reno! Window!" her voice rose, wracked with anxiety.

He turned his head briefly to catch sight of the scrambling ninja and caught on to her urgency, flipping the switch to the left window as she ducked her head out and retched.

"Wonderful," Reno's face fell flat, "She's airsick…"

Bringing her head back in from the view of the helipad, she laid her head back and began taking short, shallow gulps of air before opening her eyes.

"Someone has to clean that up you know," he snickered, shaking his head.

"Shut up and fly," she groaned weakly.

Reno complied and pushed the joystick north.

* * *

The Turk tried not to focus on the sounds of Yuffie's amplified hurling as they cruised just over the borders of Edge. The ninja's head swam almost as a consequence to her queasiness subsiding as she rested her head against the seat again and focused her gaze on the numerous glowing buttons. She knew that if she looked down, ahead, out the window or virtually anywhere else in the copter, she would be reminded of the situation and be forced to stick her head out yet again.

After a few minutes of peace, Reno piped up, "You done?"

"Not if you talk about it," her voiced was laced with an unintentional sarcasm. She was trying to be serious but cynicism made itself found instead. Quickly correcting her hostility, she continued, "How much more time until we get to Wutai?"

"You really want to know, princess?"

She rolled her eyes at the name, bringing back the vague memory of the redhead referring to her as such when Don Corneo decided to be a total jerkface and kidnap her along with that blonde Turk. What was her name? She dispelled the thought as her focus snapped back to Reno.

"Yeah. I really want to know, Turkey."

"5 and a half days."

"What?" she sat up in her chair with a quickness that upset her stomach, still recovering from its convulsions.

"Yup. Rest stops included and weather permitting" he smiled at the words that made his life hell and his ability to throw them back in the ninja's face.

"Why?" she furrowed her eyebrows.

"You wanted to sleep until noon. That's why."

"Can't you make this thing go any faster?" she demanded rather than asked.

"Sure," he assured with a devilish smile that made Yuffie regret the words that escaped her mouth. He pushed forward so abruptly that the helicopter stopped before speeding forward so fast that it pushed the ninja against the headrest with a force that made her swear her brain shook in her head.

"Wait, slow down!" she grabbed at Reno's hand in an attempt to force them back to no avail.

He snickered and frightened Yuffie to the point where an instinctual rage kicked in.

"Reno! This isn't a damn joke! Slow down!"

"What're you gonna do?" he asked, toying with the girl.

"This!" she screamed and he panicked as her hands moved in a frenzy pushing, pulling, and prodding every control she set her sights on.

"Yuffie! STOP!"

"How does it feel?" she mocked him.

"No! We're going to-" the Turk was cut off by a beeping he hoped he'd never have to hear again as the entire cockpit flashed red, signaling that the warning bulb had gone off. Yuffie pulled her hands back and dug her nails into her armrests, now undistracted by her anger.

"B-13 to CO do you read?" Reno waited a millisecond before repeating himself, "B-13 to CO do you copy?"

No response.

"Shit!" Reno attempted to undo the damage Yuffie caused, returning each control to its original setting and struggling to even out the helicopter's path. He pulled back, trying to reverse the tendency of the machine to spiral downward and could only revel in slowing it down rather than change its destination that had all too soon changed from Junon to the ground that waited below.

He looked over to Yuffie whose knuckles, white from pressure, encircled the handlebars that hung down from the helicopter's ceiling for dear life. Tears streamed down her cheeks and her ash eyes overflowed with terror as she mumbled a prayer in Wutaiian.

Reno took another deep breath before activating the emergency brake switch that expectantly failed him. He tried fiercely to remember every combination of buttons that could save their lives but before he could input the sequences, the redhead saw the ground spiraling toward them and understood he could do nothing more than brace for impact. Knowing the glass from the windshield could potentially do the most damage, he took the hysterical girl into his arms and bent his torso over hers, forcing their bodies down.

"Just hold on!" he shouted and she obeyed, clutching at his jacket.

As the final word left his mouth, their bodies contracted and the impact of the ground reached them, stunning the pair into unconsciousness.

* * *

Yuffie fought the overpowering urge that she needed to do something as déjà vu struck her. A similar light penetrated her lids as it did this morning. This morning? She gasped as her eyes snapped open, recalling all of the events that had happened since then. The girl tried to raise her head quickly and growled at the weight that pushed her back down until she realized it couldn't have been anything but the Turk. She twisted free from his grip and sat back up; wincing at the ache that rippled through her body though she could tell she hadn't broken anything. When her eyes adjusted to the light, she looked down to see…

"Reno!" her breath hitched as she observed the man, still bent over as he had been when he shielded her from the crash. Her eyes watered when she saw his state, jagged shards of broken glass harshly protruding from his jacket.

She gasped and lifted his torso, careful not to let his back touch anything. Using one hand to lift his chin, she nearly lost it at the sight of the dried blood that trailed from the edge of his mouth to where her fingers were.

"Reno!" her nails dug into his shoulder as she saw his incredibly expressionless face refusing to move a muscle.

"Wake up!" she screamed, just barely managing to hold back her sobs as she shook him more harshly than she intended to, "Reno, please!"

The girl stopped as she heard a weak groan escape his mouth. Pulling him from her, she held his chin up again to see his aquamarine eyes slowly flutter halfway open and focus on her face. Upon seeing the smile and tears threatening to flow, the redhead deduced that she was okay and made his best effort at giving her the same reassurance by revealing a tired smile.

"Damn ninjas…" he rasped.

* * *

**Once again, I'm not to skilled in the action writing department so be lenient with me. I'm working on it, I promise.**

**It pains me to write about a wounded Reno, but I'll suck it up and deal for the sake of the story.**

**Reviews are my fanfiction fuel :)**


	6. The Old Man

**Disclaimer- I own nothing and nobody from FFVII.**

**(A/N) I liked writing this chapter because it begins to eliminate some of the animosity between the two. Should that have been a spoiler alert? Oh well...**

**Enjoy!**

**

* * *

**

"Alright, just hold still," Yuffie demanded, tired of Reno squirming under her grip. It was only making her job more difficult.

"It's harder than it looks kid!" the man countered.

She sighed, honestly preferring the unconscious Reno as opposed to his brazen counterpart.

"Inhale," she repeated, having made a routine of her words in the past half hour. He heeded and bit onto the bunched shirt he held in his hands, preparing for what was to come.

The ninja pulled the last shard of glass from his back as quickly as she could while making sure none was left behind. Reno let out a final howl of pain into the sea of cotton Yuffie had given him back and panted, worn down from the experience.

"You okay?" she asked over his shoulder.

"Just get on with the next one," he grunted, shooting down her only words of comfort.

"That was the last one," she informed.

"Oh thank god…" he breathed to nobody in particular, "Can you patch it up?"

"There isn't nearly enough gauze. Not to mention, the person who packed this first-aid kit apparently thought there would never be a need for antibiotics," she seethed, annoyed at also nobody in particular.

"Well, what now?"

"Well…" she trailed off as she rose from the remnants of the helicopter to survey the horizon that now hid the sun, painting the sky a deep indigo. It turned out, they awoke from the crash not hours later, but a little more than 24 hours later. However, Yuffie didn't care as much about the delayed trip as she did simply staying alive.

She gasped, catching sight of her Razor Wing implanted in the ground not too far from here. She had never been so glad to mock Cloud in her life.

"What is it?" Reno inquired from below.

"My shuriken!"

"What?"

"I made a landmark not too far from here, years ago. We're near that geezer's house. He shouldn't even be a half mile away!" she beamed.

"That's convenient. Why'd you make a landmark?"

"I was kinda," she paused to rub the back of her head, "making fun of Spikey?"

Reno shrugged, uncaring and struggled to lift himself when the ninja bounded down from the debris to sling his arm over her shoulder and help him up.

The Turk opened his mouth to say something when she lifted her head and cut him off.

"I know what you're gonna say so don't say it. I'm helping you so you can just swallow your pride and deal, Turkey."

Reno shut up as they continued to navigate the flatlands until reaching her weapon. She slung the rusty four-point shuriken over her shoulder, attaching it the makeshift sheath she had made while she waited for him to fully regain consciousness at the beginning of the day seeing as he slipped in and out of it for an hour.

* * *

The two stopped at the entrance of the cave and observed the worn rock that served as the skeleton for the home. Reno became apprehensive at the sight of the dark grotto but Yuffie let out a peal of encouraging laughter.

"Oh he's fine. The geezer's sleeping half the time anyway," she reassured. Reno nodded and they entered the earthen chamber.

Yuffie was beyond surprised when she saw the old man, not sleeping but slouching over a poorly built counter. She observed him as he rapped his bony fingers on the wood that just slightly brushed his silver, straggly beard that seemed to reach on for miles. His head was concealed by a mahogany shaded hat, seemingly as old as he, that touched just beyond his eyebrows. The dim lantern that rested beside him illuminated his semi-opened eyes. Looking closer, Yuffie could tell that they were clearly glazed over and pallid. Unsure of what to do, she looked to Reno who just silently laughed at her.

"What can this 'geezer' do for you today?" the man asked, unflinching.

"Eh?" Yuffie tried not to let her nervousness show but failed as she laughed uncomfortably, "You don't miss a beat do you?"

"I'm blind not deaf," he answered her and stood up, a slight hump evident in his back, "Can I help you?"

"Um," she looked around the cave, tens of shelves stocked with items that ranged from offensive, defensive, medicinal, and even a few greens used to tame chocobos, "we need a place to stay for the night."

"I have one bed available if you're interested."

"That'll be fine," she accepted.

Reno raised an eyebrow at her, and she held out her hand in response.

"Really?"

"Yep," she smiled mischievously.

Reno reluctantly agreed to her game of Rock, Paper, Scissors and predicted she would go for rock. Being the child that she was, her mind probably processed rock as being able to defeat all. With three bumps of the fist, Yuffie kept her fingers curled as Reno's lay flat; proving his thought process correct.

"No fair! Best two out of three?" she whined.

"Nope, I get the bed," he snickered.

She rolled her eyes and approached the old man as Reno sat by the bed not too far from Yuffie.

"How much will it cost us for the night?"

"100 gil."

_Well that's not too bad for one night, _she thought, _even though I'm sleeping on the ground, _she finished sourly.

"Fair enough," she started, "That being said, I'd like to buy some items."

"Feel free to browse," he raised his hand to the collection.

She nodded unbeknownst to the man and perused his collection, eventually picking out the appropriate vials for Reno's wounds as well as a couple things for the long road ahead.

As she put them on the counter, she scratched the back of her head and inquired, "Um… do you want me to tell you what I picked out?"

"No, girl. I would never make a living that way," he shook his head at what seemed to be the most obvious thing in the world.

Running his bony fingers along the edges of the small bottles, he hummed quietly to himself and eventually raised his head to her.

"That will be 350 gil," he stated.

Yuffie's face dropped as the number reached her ears. _So freakin expensive! This geezer's a con artist for sure._

She frowned inwardly as she dug through her pockets to only find 400. She grimaced and crept over to Reno.

"Hey," she smiled sweetly.

"You're short aren't you?" he asked curtly.

"50," she enlightened him.

He sighed and handed her the change.

"You get 50 cool points," she whispered and returned to the man, placing the grand total in his hand. She waited patiently as he rolled the coins over in his hand until he nodded. Yuffie began to gather the small bottles as the old man stopped her.

"If you don't mind me asking, what's wrong with your friend there?" he must have figured that he was injured as she was buying so many medicinal potions.

"Oh," Yuffie paused and decided to have a little fun, leaning over to whisper in his ear, "He got into a tiff with a prostitute," her voice was filled with fake empathy, "A shame really, she had one heck of a right hook I'll tell ya."

The man's mouth curled upward and he broke into a light chuckle, amusing Yuffie as she looked back to an oblivious Reno.

"Well that's unfortunate. You must make sure to pay them ahead of time or that'll happen," he shuffled over to the back of the cave as Yuffie's mouth dropped at the old man's statement. It took everything she had in her not to lose her level-headedness as she covered her mouth, preventing the outburst.

The man lifted the curtain in the back to reveal another quite spacious area. Yuffie nudged Reno from his daze and pointed to the room, understanding that the intended bed was in there and not among the items. Reno managed to lift himself and reel to the floor in the new extension of the cave. Yuffie followed close behind, thanking the old man.

* * *

As the cloth floated shut behind them, she dropped the numerous potions and rolls of gauze on the bed to the far left. When she twirled back around, Reno was holding the rumpled shirt Yuffie had worn back at the apartment; the one he used to alleviate his pain.

"You won't need it," she convinced him, "unless you're chicken," she added with a smirk.

Reno cut his eyes at the girl and shifted his stare to the clothing before reluctantly handing it back to her. Dropping it to her side, she turned back to the nervous redhead.

"Take your shirt off."

He did so, removing the navy jacket slowly and wincing as he pulled the shirt that brushed his open wounds over his head.

Yuffie just barely kept her solemnity as she attempted to tear her stare from the Turk. Her eyes roved up and down his bare expanse of lightly scarred, lean muscle.

"What?" he sounded concerned.

_Wow, that's what._

Yuffie frowned at the voice in her mind, displeased with its brutal honesty and stuck her tongue out slightly.

Reno bent down to meet her at eye level and waved in front of her face, "Yo?"

"Huh?" she snapped her head up.

"You know, you're pretty spacey."

"Spacey enough to drag you here," she rebuked, "Sit."

He rolled his eyes before sitting as she asked in the middle of the floor and resting his elbows on his knees, crossing his forearms. He slung his ponytail over his shoulder and hunched over slightly to make himself comfortable as Yuffie knelt down behind him and analyzed the severity of his injuries, sincerely impressed on how fast they began to heal themselves.

"So?"

"They're not as deep as I thought they would be," she told him. Looking back to the bed, she almost regretted buying so much medicine but figured they would need it eventually anyway, "You should be fine in two days, give or take."

Reno sighed as Yuffie reached up and grabbed her desired remedy before tearing a strip of cloth from the shirt to use as a temporary rag. Dabbing the solution onto the cotton, she warned Reno, "This might sting a bit," before pressing it onto the gashes. Reno hissed as the burning sensation crept along the trail of his cuts, only to have the pain soon subside. Yuffie began tending to his afflictions efficiently, pausing only to grab another potion or change the cloth.

"How do you know how to do all this?" he asked out of sheer curiosity, seeing as the ninja wasn't the type to dote.

"Aeris…" she trailed off despondently, unable to help glancing at her shuriken to which she tied two of her pink ribbons.

"Oh," he whispered, cursing himself for bringing it up.

"Hey, don't worry about it," she gingerly mumbled, "It's not like it was your fault."

Mentally disagreeing, the Turk vaguely remembered breaking into the church in search of the Cetra, being given orders to apprehend her. He shook the fear in her azure eyes from his head.

"Thanks," Reno broke the silence with an overdue gratitude.

"I should be thanking you," the girl dabbed a new tonic on the rag, "You saved my ass back there."

The Turk recalled the events of the crash, and how he had covered her from the windshield.

"That's what bodyguards do."

Yuffie's smile was invisible to him as she wrapped the final layer of gauze around his lower torso, exhaling.

"Whew," she brushed the bangs from her eyes and sat back, "Done."

Her relief was met by nothing but low, steady breathing as Yuffie inched to his front to get a better look at the face that was shadowed as his head hung low. The ninja cocked her head, curious as to how someone could fall asleep like that but brushed it off as she laid him on his back, removing the pillow from the bed for him. Using her own backpack as a substitute cushion, she settled herself on the ground because he had won the game after all.

All of today's occurrences flashed through her mind as she tried to lull herself to sleep: the fear she felt when she was convinced Reno died, the consolation when she learned he wasn't, salvaging everything she could in the wreckage, traversing the flatlands to find the weapon she luckily left behind years ago, the satisfaction of finding a place they could stay the night. 'That's what bodyguards do.' Her eyelids began to feel heavy as she slowly drifted from awareness.

* * *

**You all remember the old man, don't you? The one who told you how many times you've battled or ran away? I felt the need to make some alterations to him. Sorry, if you don't agree with them :/**

**I'm anxious to hear what you think about this one. Press that beautiful blue link below and let me know.**


	7. The Seaside Village

**Disclaimer- I don't own FFVII or anything from it.**

**(A/N) Whew, these chapters keep getting longer and longer. I'll try to shorten the next one up. Before reading, you might want to look up the character Priscilla to refresh your memory if you don't already remember her. **

**

* * *

**

"We-are-so-o-o-lo-ooost!" the ninja frolicked close behind, jeering him in a sing-song tune.

"We are _not _lost," Reno insisted for the umpteenth time that day, letting his mind wander to the previous hours she tried to instill the statement into him. At first, it was more of a kind suggestion and had grown into… well this.

"We are so totally lost," Yuffie laughed in attempt to make light of the situation so she wouldn't lose her mind at their misfortune.

Reno reached his breaking point and spun around sharply to face the annoying girl, "I don't see a map in your hands! Who made you the queen of directions?" he snapped.

"Whoa there," she raised her hands, "I didn't see you buying any map," her hands dropped to rest on her hips, "nor asking for any directions either. Why didn't we just rent a buggy?"

"I didn't want to blow our budget, seeing as you only brought 400 gil!" he bit back, "What do you sleep in the forest?"

"Yes actually," she sharply confirmed, "I'm not pampered. I can handle myself!"

"Che," he scoffed, "says the 'Single White Rose of Wutai'."

She rocked back on her heels as if physically hurt by the statement and balled her fists angrily, "I just might make sure your wounds don't heal so quickly. Sleep with one eye open, Turkey!"

She stormed ahead of him, taking the lead. They walked in silence for hours until the Turk saw her flail her hands in the air and collapse on the grass, her limbs outstretched as she stared at the blue, cloudless sky. He stood over her, waiting for an explanation.

"Move it moptop," she waved her hand above her face, "you're blocking out the sun."

"Listen brat," he scowled, "if we don't keep moving, we're never getting to Junon."

"That's fine with me," she closed her eyes and basked in the partial sunlight.

"Well not me," he hoisted her up by the hand that previously lay limp among the green blades and began to drag her. Yuffie sniggered and flipped her frame so that she held Reno's arm between her legs. She then thrust him over her shoulder and planted him on the ground, swinging her legs on either side of him. She stuck her tongue out at his grimace and poked him on the forehead.

"Sorry about your back, Turkey," she taunted.

The redhead glared at her before flipping her onto her backside and pinning her arms to the grass.

"You better watch yours, babe," he teased before releasing her and walking ahead.

Yuffie frowned and blew the bangs from her face before propelling herself up and inclining her head toward the man who stopped a few feet from her.

"What?" she called and was only met with a confident nod of the head, signaling her to look ahead. She bounded toward Reno's side and pumped her fist in the air at the sight of the city's outline. Junon.

"I told you we should've kept going," she contended before skipping off toward her destination.

* * *

Yuffie breathed in the familiar scent of saltwater as she took her first step into the coastal town. Her mind flooded with the stale images of what seemed like ages ago, finding it hard to recognize all of the details. Exhaling, she heard her name cried out in the distance.

"Yuffieeee!" the soprano voice called out again as the ninja whipped her head back and forth, pursuing its source. Her search was interrupted as she felt a grip on her leg. Looking down, she discovered a small, tanned girl donning a powder blue dress whose fluid movements were unfettered in the wind. Yuffie struggled to pull the familiar girl's name from her cloudy memory when it came to her all at once.

"Oh, Priscilla," she remembered with a smile. The girl beamed up at her in response to the name.

"You remembered me!" she smiled broadly, her green eyes sparkling.

"Of course," she looked back to a confused Reno and simply held her index finger to him, urging him to wait and turned back to the girl, "How have you been?"

"Great," she looked around, "Where's Cloud?"

Yuffie giggled at the girl who simply couldn't forget her little crush over the course of three years.

"He's back in Edge," she informed, disappointed at the sorrow in the girls eyes, "but you know he has his own delivery service now. You could see him through that."

Her pools of jade lit up with anticipation as she ran off, turning back to wave at Yuffie.

"It was great to see you again," she smiled, her volume fading.

"What was that all about?" Reno asked from behind.

Yuffie held her chin high, enjoying the nostalgia, "That girl helped us sneak onto the ship that brought us to Costa del Sol."

"Us?"

"AVALANCHE."

"You don't suppose she could help _us, _do you?" Reno slipped his hands in his pockets.

"What now?" she asked, exasperated.

"There's no way in hell we can afford to take the ship," his eyes flattened at the blatant fact.

"Then I guess we will need Priscilla's help…"

* * *

"Alright, so we have an agreement then?" Yuffie asked, ensuring their deal.

"You'll make sure he comes?" the girl emphasized.

Yuffie nodded.

"And I won't have to pay for the delivery?"

"No. We've got it covered," she persuaded.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"Okay," she smiled and held the top of the wooden box open for them.

"Eh, Priscilla?" she piped up, "You're sure you don't have two?"

"No," she admitted, her grin fading a bit.

Reno shrugged and sank into the crate before peeking his head out and winking to Yuffie whose expression withered. She climbed in and sighed at her failure to find another place to sit beside his lap. _Just my luck_.

"Alright Priscilla, remember what I told you," she reminded.

She nodded and closed the lid as Yuffie ducked into the dark crate and shut her eyes tight, unsuccessfully trying to drown out Reno's presence.

"Hey there beautiful. Come here often?" he breathed seductively into her ear. She jabbed him, earning a bout of laughter from the Turk that staggered as the box began to shift.

"Alright, we're moving so don't make a sound," she whispered fiercely as she heard the door open outside of the wooden confines.

"Well then, can you get your elbow out of my ribs?" he asked sarcastically. She answered him with another blow to the stomach and snickered at him until Reno pinched her arm causing her to yelp. He pulled her back, covering her mouth with his hand. She licked him to make him pull away.

"Would you stop doing that?" he hissed.

"Not until y-" Yuffie silenced herself abruptly as she heard the murmurs of a man outside the box.

Priscilla wheeled the crate another inch before the guard stopped her.

"What is this?" he demanded more than asked. His face was masked and his tone was heavily intimidating to the girl.

"A package for the cargo ship," she concealed her trepidation with a blanket of cheerfulness and reminded herself this was for Cloud.

"What are its contents?"

"A recliner," she answered hurriedly, remembering Yuffie's words. 'We are a recliner okay? Nothing more, nothing less.'

"That will be 200 gil," he held out his gloved hand expectantly.

"What?" her happy octave dropped, replaced with dismal shock.

"200 gil," he repeated.

"B-but," her eyes started to water, "I don't have that much," she admitted as the tears began pouring out.

"Wait-" the guards shoulders weakened as he reached down to the girl, but she just turned her back and resumed bawling, "Don't cry."

"But I can't afford it. M-my grandma's going to be," she hiccupped, "so disappointed…" the girl sniffled, barely understandable.

"It's for your grandmother?" the man's voice softened.

"Yeah…" she sobbed.

"Alright, alright. Don't cry. Just… give me the package."

Priscilla turned to face him, wiping her eyes and sniffling softly.

"R-really?" her emerald eyes held hope.

"Yeah," he sounded defeated.

"Oh thank you, mister!" she cried, throwing her arms around his large frame.

"Okay," he patted the top of her head and sighed, "just get out of here."

She released him and bowed her head before running off.

"Shiva be with you, sir!" she shouted and disappeared around the corner.

Yuffie bubbled over with pride at the child's deceptive cuteness as the crate began moving. _That's my girl, _she brought her hands to her mouth in gratification_. _The ninja caught sight of the Turks disappointed stare through the slivers of artificial light that shone through the box and nodded at him. His response was delayed as the crate became briefly airborne, followed by a hard crash and slight tumble that left the two laying on their backs while their limbs awkwardly intertwined.

"I can't… breath," Reno choked out.

Yuffie hushed him until she heard the recognizable horn sound in the approximate area.

"Heh," she smirked and kicked at the top of the timber cage until it began to splinter. The ninja put all her strength behind one final blow and let loose on the lid, cracking through wood.

The girl hopped from the container and stretched, extending her arms above her head as she released a satisfied groan. The Turk immediately emerged from the box and followed suit.

Looking around, nothing was to be found but nearly identical packages, minus the people of course.

"Oh this is gonna be boring," she bemoaned as she walked among the maze of tawny, scavenging for loose materia.

"Because complaining helps…" Reno found a three sided nook, settling himself in the corner of the conjoined packages.

Yuffie grumbled at the absence of the glowing orbs she cherished so and surrendered, slinking down beside the redhead and puffing out her cheeks in boredom.

"I spy with my little eye, something…" she briefly scanned the hold, "brown."

"A crate."

"This isn't gonna work," she quickly concluded and pushed herself back up. Reno was silent as he watched her clear a space in the middle of the room, standing up erect and raising her arms straight above her.

"What are y-," he stopped short, observing the flexibility of the young ninja as she began to perform an array of acrobatics; somersaulting, cartwheeling, and handspringing all around the small space with ease. Her shuriken in tow, she twisted and spun, jutting her arms out in all directions for far longer than he expected her to endure until she finally teetered back to him and relaxed against the wall of boxes, brushing the bangs from her face.

"Was there a reason for that?"

"How else is a ninja supposed to keep in shape with all this no-monster nonsense," she rolled her eyes.

"That's true," Reno agreed, glad that someone else finally saw the bittersweet side of peace.

"So whaddya think of Priscilla?" she turned back, her face reading mischief, "Pretty good acting, right? I taught her everything she knows."

"The last thing we need is another thief running around," he shook his head.

"I am not a thief!" she argued, turning her nose up.

"What else do you call someone who steals materia?"

"It's not stealing," Reno waited for her explanation, "…It's prolonged borrowing."

"Right," he replied with fake satisfaction and rested his head against the boxes.

Yuffie tried to stay quiet, outstretching her legs and rocking side to side but soon failed.

"Hey Turkey?"

"Hm?"

"What's with those marks on your face?" she asked, running her fingers underneath her eyes, "Are they tattoos?"

"No," he glanced back to her, "they're scars."

"How'd you get them?" Yuffie questioned, unable to hold back her interest.

"A helicopter crash. Like the one we were in," he explained.

She bit her tongue and propped her head on her knees, listening with attentiveness.

"We went down just over Kalm. At the impact, they ended up doing some damage," Reno smirked as he pointed to the goggles that rested on his head.

"So you used to wear them?"

He nodded.

"Why don't you just take them off?" she inquired.

"So I don't forget."

"Huh?"

"Learn from your mistakes."

"Oh," she stretched her legs out again.

He rubbed the back of his head, "Guess that didn't work…"

Yuffie sat up straight, "It's not your f-," Reno hushed her as he tilted his head slightly. The ninja bit her lip and listened closely until the muffled sound of footsteps and light chatter became clearer, growing increasingly closer. She silently darted behind the nearest crate to the Turk. Reno crouched and looked back to Yuffie who apparently had been trying to get his attention. Once she claimed it, she pointed in the general direction of the noise source and shrugged. He shook his head, deciding it wouldn't be wise to peer over the boxes, as his hair isn't something that's easily overlooked.

"I don't dig this new boss."

"She isn't _that _bad," a meeker tone replied.

"What are you talkin' about? She almost had Kale discharged this morning! Just for smoking a cigarette," the man raised his voice.

"Well you guys never learn…" Yuffie and Reno listened keenly to the footsteps as they slowly came nearer and nearer.

The ninja looked to the redhead and used her finger to draw a question mark in the air before dragging it across her neck while crossing her eyes and letting her tongue fall limp from the side of her mouth. He smiled before nodding in agreement and mouthing '1'.

"I mean, she only sent us to guard the hold because she knows we'll have nothing to do down here," the deeper voice seethed.

'2'

"It's alright. You don't need to freak out," the other man soothed.

'3' a wicked grin erupted on the pair's faces as they separated, navigating the labyrinth they had been given that luckily made their objective significantly easier.

Yuffie crept along the line of temporary cover and glancing over, rejoicing as she saw the meek man had turned his back. She nimbly leaped upward to grab hold of a pipe that stood out in contrast to its bleak surroundings and used the momentum to swing herself up to the top of the vents, grateful for the passages hanging lower to the ground than that of a normal room. Slinking her way above the meek man, she caught sight of Reno who was watching her expectantly, already in a more convenient position to render the man senseless. He nodded to her and at the movement, Yuffie's blood boiled with readiness. Nodding back, she slowly arched backwards, letting her body, albeit the waist down, hang while holding herself steadily to the vent with her angled legs. She looked up and almost giggled at Reno's astonished expression.

"So you're calm now, Taro?" the man turned to the other guard and Yuffie rolled her eyes at their extensive conversation.

"Yeah whatever…" he replied not turning around to the girl's relief.

"Hmph," the other shrugged and returned to his original posture. In response, Yuffie mouthed their time limit this time.

'1,' she paused.

'2' Reno drew his EMR.

'3' the ninja silently dropped from the vent and rose behind the meek man. She quickly cupped a hand over his mouth and ran her thumb along his neck until sensing the pressure point and applying just enough force to keep him somewhere in between slumber and comatose. She held his body, laying him on the floor to avoid him crumpling to the ground and making too much noise.

Reno ducked out from behind the crate and angled his grip around the guard's neck, causing him to wordlessly struggle. The Turk used his free arm to twist the man's other limb behind his back and harshly bear down on a sensitive point that conjoined both halves of his arm. He fell limp in his arms, still aware but without control over his muscles. Reno set the man on the ground and pushed his forearm down on his neck to keep his head still as he held the EMR to his temple and discharged a dose that would ensure his dormancy.

He stood up and brushed himself off, raising his head to meet Yuffie's beam and couldn't keep the grin off his own face.

"Yes!" they cheered in unison and met each other in a high-five.

"We totally kicked their asses!" she punched the air.

"How did you bend like that? That was amazing!" Reno asked, finding it hard to keep the enthusiasm out of his voice.

"Are you kidding?" she hollered despite her previous will to stay quiet, "You were all like 'WHOOSH'," she imitated him choking her own invisible enemy, "and then all like 'Not up in here!'," she finished, bringing her dummy to the ground.

Reno laughed, rubbing the back of his head in slight embarrassment.

"Oh!" she perked up.

"What?"

"Aren't we low on money?" she queried.

"Yeah, why?"

She pointed to the unconscious guards briefly before scampering over to them and stripping them of their uniforms.

"Couldn't you just… take it out of their pockets?"

"You think nobody's gonna notice us get off?" she asked tugging at his hair.

Reno shrugged and began scavenging through their clothes.

* * *

"Alright," Yuffie began, tugging at the stuffy helmet, "How much do we have now?"

"955 gil," he responded.

"Sweet," she smiled, "so should we, I dunno, rehearse what we're going to say to the other g-"

The familiar horn blared just in earshot, cutting Yuffie off.

"Doesn't look like we have time for that," Reno pulled her up the stairs where the air noticeably shifted, at least to Yuffie. The boat rocked, taking her stomach with it. Walking further onto the deck, he kept a close eye on the girl who'd run to the side of the ship and half lifted the helmet to heave off the edge.

One distinctive voice rose above the idle chatter that filled the air.

"Hey, Taro!" Reno leaned against the rails and stared out to the sea that seemed to expand further and further as the land drew closer.

"Taro!" the redhead sighed and waited for the ninja to finish hurling.

"Taro!" he felt someone punch him on the shoulder and twisted around to see another guard.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Reno demanded.

"Um Kale," the guard held confusion in his tone, "Who the hell else would I be?"

"Oh," Reno thought back to the guards laying in the hold. He thought 'Taro' sounded familiar.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine," he assured, "just a little tired."

"Wait, did you just come from the hold?"

"Um," Reno grew a little nervous, "yeah."

"Capitan Avi?"

"Huh?"

"The new boss. What, you didn't know her name?"

"No, I never caught it."

"Consider yourself lucky. Believe me when I say I don't wanna be aquainted with that witch," the man's tone was disgusted.

"Hm," Reno nodded, quickly turning to make sure Yuffie was okay.

"I was gonna ask," the other man pulled his attention back, "What's wrong with Terran?"

"What do you mean?" Reno asked, hoping to draw out if 'Terran' was a male or female.

"He usually loves the ocean. Why's he seasick?"

"Oh, he must have eaten something that upset his stomach," the redhead lifted his head to the sky as the horn blared again. He reached over and grabbed Yuffie's hand as she pulled her helmet down just in time.

"Whoa, what are you doing?" she blurted as Reno led her across the deck.

"Yeah, what are you doing?" Kale asked.

"Paid vacation," he called back to the man, "don't you remember, Terran?" he emphasized to the ninja.

"Oh yeah!" she played along as he guided her toward the narrow metal that connected the ship to their next destination, "I nearly forgot!"

Kale watched the two men retreat into the nearest gift shop, hand in hand. He always had the sneaking suspicion that there was something between the two.

* * *

**I hate coming up with names :/**

**Whatever, it was fun finally showing the badass side of Reno and Yuffie.**

**Review for more badassery :)**


	8. The Sunkissed Capital

**Disclaimer- I own nothing but this laptop and my thoughts.**

**(A/N) Finally! Some dynamic is coming into play :) I tried hard not to make this too fluffy or too cold.**

**

* * *

**

"Reno," Yuffie discarded her long black glove into the sea, "Trust me. They can't see you anymore."

The redhead sighed as he watched the ship disappear over the span of the horizon, fading into the bright blue backdrop.

"I guess you're right…" he began to shed his disguise along with the ninja, enjoying the warm breeze that gusted past.

"Ahh, much better!" she beamed and lifted her head to the clear sky, basking in the sun that beat down on her face. Reno mentally agreed as he removed the bulky pauldron from his shoulder.

"Yuffie?" he interrupted.

She spun back to face him.

"We should probably get that map now," he reminded.

"Oh yeah…" she let her hands lay on her hips and shifted her weight to one knee.

"How about I take 200 for the room and you can have 500 for the map and any other provisions we might need?" he suggested as he dug in his pocket, his hand emerging with her amount.

"Deal!" she agreed without hesitation, snatching the gil and scampering off to the gift shop.

Reno shook his head and sighed with the undeniable feeling that he just made a big mistake as he walked to the hotel, knowing that there weren't any cheaper inns here. Banking right, he caught sight of the honey-shaded bricks that defined the building and hoped 200 would be enough so he didn't have to dip into their savings.

The redhead pushed the door open, all of his hesitance vanishing as he saw the woman at the front desk. She had long, deep russet hair that reached to her lower back; fashioned in a ponytail so similar to Reno's that it might have been its neater equivalent. Her eyes were an inviting hazel and freckles were scattered about her face like chocolate chips. He followed her smile, as he swore it was beckoning him and approached the counter. His aquamarine eyes narrowed predatorily as he examined her.

"Hey, beautiful."

Reno stopped dead in his tracks. Something wasn't right. As soon as the word 'beautiful' left his lips, he felt his stomach drop to the soles of his feet and every fiber of his being told him not to seduce this woman. Why? She was attractive enough. She seemed nice. What the hell? The Turk began to wonder if his instincts were out of whack when the lady behind the desk interrupted his thoughts.

"Excuse me, sir?"

"Hm?" he returned to reality.

"Can I help you?" she looked troubled by his mental absence.

"I need one room, please," he simply got to the point, suddenly eager to get the hell out of there.

The smile returned to her face, "One bed or two?"

"How much?"

"The one bed is 170 and the two bed is 220," she answered.

"One bed, it is…" he placed the needed gil on the desk.

"Thank you," she smiled widely. He turned his back and started to walk out in response.

"Enjoy your stay at Costa del Sol," she called after him. He raised a hand and pushed the door open, leaning against the outside of the hotel. Running a hand through his hair, he wondered if his sex drive disappeared when a familiar voice called his name.

"Hey, Reno!" the girl approached him and his head snapped back up to see her, his mouth nearly agape. Her attire consisted of a white strip of fabric that twisted in the middle of her chest, decorated in a tangerine floral pattern. Attached to each side was a thin string of the same color that met in a neat bow and draped around her neck. He allowed his eyes to meander her smooth stomach and eventually drop down to the cloth adorned with the same designs. It was held together by two rings on either side of her hips where a sheer coral sarong hung, unfortunately obscuring the outline of her thighs. His gaze continued to wander down her endless legs where the covering had long since stopped and he could only conclude that his sex drive was ever-present.

"Hey…" he greeted, gathering his wits.

"Whaddya think, Turkey?" she raised her hands to the air as he noticed one hand was clutching a bag.

"If you wear things like that, I might have to guard you from more than just monsters," he admitted with a delightfully crooked smile.

Her coy grin indicated that she took the compliment.

"What's in the there?" he gestured to the tote.

She began pulling out various items such as dazers, light curtains, and dragon scales, showing them to him briefly. Finally she revealed the map and unrolled it in front of her face, exposing its contents.

"Alright," Reno was relieved that they would be set on provisions for a while.

"Not done yet…" she smiled, rummaging through the bag.

Reno arched his eyebrow at her as she pulled out a pair of swimming trunks and held them out to him expectantly.

"Well don't just look at them," Yuffie rolled her eyes and he took them.

"Navy?"

She shrugged, "I figured it was something you were accustomed to," she defended the color and grabbed his hand, pulling him through the streets back to the gift shop. As they entered the island-themed store, the cashier wore an exasperated expression on his face directed toward Yuffie. She grinned back at him sheepishly before shoving Reno into one of the changing rooms.

"Don't take too long," she commanded and shut the door in his startled face.

Spinning around in an abashed manner that was entirely the opposite of herself, Yuffie waved to the cashier nervously, "Sorry about before again."

He narrowed his eyes at the irritating girl, "Even think of it again, and I'll have security remove you," he grumbled.

Yuffie pouted at the clear rejection for an apology.

"You tried to steal, didn't you?"

The ninja turned back the owner of the voice and relished the sight of Reno's ever slightly scarred abdomen all over again.

"Let's put this all behind us okay?" the girl became more and more restless.

"I'll forget about it when you leave," the cashier spat.

"Fine," she compromised, not letting the man's unnecessary hostility penetrate her spritely mood and rushed out of the store in an attempt to escape the tense aura.

"Where are we going now?" Reno inquired as the door shut behind them.

"Where do you think?" she asked sarcastically, pulling him along.

* * *

Yuffie raised her hands to her mouth as she beholded the sight of the beach. The sky was a flawless cerulean, housing only of few wisps of cloud that slowly drifted along in a manner that fit Costa del Sol's lazy ambience too well. The atmosphere drifted into a powder blue as it hit the edge of the sea that seemed to stretch on for eternity, its waves collapsing onto the sandy shore that clung to some of the frothy residue. Business must not have been booming today, as only a few handfuls of people were scattered across the sand.

"Wow! I haven't been to the beach in forever," she smiled at Reno before rushing to the dock that stood over the water's edge and observed in a blissful state. The redhead approached her side and a wicked smirk erupted on his face. He looked off into the distance and whistled innocently as he swiftly raised a hand to the ninja's back to push her off the dock.

"Whoa," she stumbled on the edge, quickly comprehending the Turk's intent and snatched his hand, pulling him down with her. However, dragging him in as well did nothing to quell the shock that the freezing water inflicted upon her. She rapidly propelled herself to the surface, gasping and whipped her head around just in time to see him rise from the water.

"You bastard!" she screamed and splashed the liquid ice back in his face.

"You're the one who wanted to go to the beach," he snickered, playfully splashing her back.

"I didn't ask to be pushed," she argued, arching so she could float on her back. As the rivulets of saltwater flowed off of her torso, Reno was pleased to finally see the full extent of her legs through the soaked sarong.

"Oh you did. Just not with your mouth," he retaliated, sinking back down.

"Hmm," she laid her hands behind her head and closed her eyes, drifting with the understated waves. After a long silence, she retreated under the surface and arose behind him.

"What?" he looked over his shoulder at the girl who suddenly seemed more resolute.

"Just checking your wounds," she relayed, running her delicate fingers all along his back and tracing intricate patterns along the trail of skin where she remembered the marks used to be.

"Nothing hurts, right?"

"No."

Yuffie stared at the man, amazed at the speed of his regeneration.

"You must be something, Turkey," Reno turned to meet her stare.

"So you noticed," he smirked.

"Shut up," she laughed and splashed him again before turning to pull herself back up on the dock, ringing out her sarong. She settled herself on the edge and let her crossed legs hang down. Yuffie sighed blissfully as the setting sun warmed her entire body, albeit her feet that just barely grazed the water. Reno's gaze was met with a warm smile from the girl and he pulled himself up next to her. She fixed her stare on the sky, painted in vivid swirls of vermilion and copper that danced on the ribbons of saffron and amethyst. The redhead watched the entranced girl, rendered speechless by the sight and felt a strange disappointment at having to interrupt her.

"Yuffie…"

"Yes?" she responded, never tearing her eyes from the sunset.

"It's going to be dark soon."

She hesitantly nodded, comprehending his hint and pushed herself up alongside Reno.

"Let's go," she smiled.

* * *

Reno slipped the small key into its intended lock and pushed forward on the door to reveal their temporary living quarters. Yuffie emerged from behind him and observed the bedroom. Its walls were coated a light shade of apricot, snapshots of Costa del Sol resting in the frames that hung from them. Most of the room's accessories such as the dresser, closet curtain and rug were decorated with the images of seashells. The theme became a bit too much for the ninja as she laid her eyes on the bed frame, sculpted in its general shape. The bed was simple and white, with only two pillows to her relief. She hated when there were so many overwhelmingly small pillows that you couldn't even find a place to lay your head.

"I call the bed since you got it last time," she declared raising her finger.

"I don't think so, kid," he shut the door behind him, "You think you're clever? I didn't get the bed last time."

"How do you figure? You won the game," she stated.

"I fell asleep on the ground. It doesn't count."

"That's your bad," she raised her eyebrows regally, "I get it by default."

"We're sharing," he asserted.

Yuffie huffed, "Fine. Then I get the shower first," she promenaded to the bathroom, removing her sarong on the way before bending over to pick something up, "And I'm _not_ forgetting this," she held up her backpack before shutting the door behind her.

Reno heard the shower turn as he sat on the bed and rested his elbows on his knees, glancing around the room until he caught a glimpse of the tote from the gift shop. With nothing better to do, he figured he'd see exactly what they had for their journey. The redhead picked the bag up and began rummaging through it, finding what she showed him before and a couple new commonplace items. He dug deeper and his expression went flat at the sight of numerous orbs that he knew didn't belong to him. Not only had she attempted to pilfer the materia from the store. She succeeded. And she had apologized without giving them back.

_Only her…_

Reno moved more items around and his face brightened up when he felt a familiar palm-sized box. The very same used to sustain his addiction. He mentally rejoiced, removing the package from the bag and immediately finding a lighter beneath the box's former place. It had the same floral design as her swimsuit, which he wasn't too happy about, and a small yellow sticky note attached that read: 'You're welcome, Turkey!' At the bottom of the message was a little smiley face that stuck its tongue out at him. He chuckled under his breath as he got up to slide the glass door open and step out on the balcony, leaving the door open as the warm breeze of the resort gusted into the room.

He leaned forward over the rail and lit the cigarette, bringing it to his mouth and taking a drag. Exhaling, his eyes followed the cloud of smoke as it drifted off into the distance and closer to the shroud of stars that now ensconced the night sky.

_The prices are fuckin' outrageous, _he thought, _but it really is beautiful._

The Turk lazily scanned the town not far below, hearing the lover's sighs of many couples that strolled through the streets with their fingers intertwined. They probably just couldn't bear to miss out on the starry sky that was here every fucking night. Reno couldn't help but question the ignorance they disguised as 'love' and blew another puff of smoke, returning his head to the sky.

"You are so impatient," a voice chided behind him. He spun around to face the girl who now donned a solid gray tank top and fluffy, powder blue pajama pants adorned with cartoony images of billowy clouds.

"What happened to the green panties?" he grinned suggestively, stubbing the cigarette.

"Didn't figure my company would care much for them," she crossed her arms.

"How wrong you are…" he replied, striding past her and into the bathroom. The ninja looked down, grateful that the redhead couldn't see her blush as he shut the door behind him.

"Stupid Turkey…" she grumbled to herself before falling into the soft abyss of white that waited below. She buried her face in between the pillows and repeated her previous reflection on the experiences of the day. The hazy curtain of dim sun settled in her mind, leaving her still body in a tranquil state. Her lucidity slipped and returned to her grip for what seemed like hours as her eyelids flickered open and shut, struggling to keep from resting.

"You awake?"

"Hm?" Yuffie grudgingly flipped onto her back and sat up to look at the man, only clad in simple boxers. His dewy, crimson hair was unrestrained by the ponytail and hung low past his shoulders.

"Aww… I was hoping the boxers were navy too," she teased.

"In your dreams," he laughed.

"So how are we gonna do this?" the ninja wore an inquisitive look on her face.

"Sleep?"

"Yeah."

"I don't care," he shrugged, "as long as it's not head to toe."

"No way! I can't sleep with your rank feet in my face," she wrinkled her nose.

Reno snaked his way in between the sheets, bringing his face closer to hers.

"You know, my mouth can be much more dangerous," he grinned slyly.

"I'll make a note of it," she countered and turned to lay on her side. The Turk grasped the idea and rolled over on the opposite side, his back facing the ninja's.

"Goodnight, Reno," she whispered.

His smile went unseen in the dark room, "Night, Yuffs…"

Yuffie nuzzled her nose in the soft pillow and let the sight of the stars through the transparent curtains calm her fully.

_Yuffs_. She liked that…

* * *

**Le gasp! Are Reno and Yuffie getting soft? Well they better; we're 8 chapters in...**

**Review if you adore Reno with his hair down :)**


	9. The Miner's Haven

**Disclaimer- I have no affiliation with the characters or plot involved in FFVII.**

**(A/N) Lol see my fancy disclaimer? So sorry that it took an eon to post this chapter but hopefully the length will make up for it a little. I had a huge writer's block and ended up going for something completely different than I planned on but that's half the fun :) Because of the length, I kinda have to split this event between two chapters so don't flip out. Lemon will be in the next chapter by popular demand.**

**

* * *

**

"Hmm…" Yuffie unraveled the map and paused to hold it in front of her face as she thoroughly examined it again.

"Yuffie," the redhead sighed as he trudged ahead, glancing over his shoulder at the inquisitive girl.

"What?" she tore her seemingly focused stare from the paper and to him as he advanced further away from her.

"You know," he began. She dashed closer behind him and began to place the chart back into her knapsack, listening with alacrity that was a bit abnormal for her, "you don't have to check the map every five seconds."

"Like hell I don't!" she retorted, approaching his side, "We got lost last time."

"We weren't lost," he stopped to glare at her, the spark of a growing argument flashing in his turquoise pools.

"Whatever you say, boss," she rolled her eyes but attempted to omit the sarcasm from her voice in order to keep some level of peace. Reno shoved his hands in his pockets and pressed forward, staring at the sky just for the sake of having something to stare at in the wide expanse. He raised his eyebrow at the all too familiar sound of rustling paper and turned his head to find the young ninja studying the map again. His eye twitched in annoyance before he harshly snatched it from her hands.

"Hey!" she snapped, grabbing at the air that surrounded Reno's grip on the chart, "Give it back!"

"Why should I?" his face read an odd mix of annoyance and slyness as he held it away from her.

"If you don't," she tried to snag the map unsuccessfully, "we'll get lost. If we get lost, we'll have to camp. You don't know this place and I don't know it that well either. Therefore, we'll be eaten by wolves," she cried.

Reno fixed his bewildered gaze on her as she crossed her arms, puzzled by the ludicrous statement.

"We'll be eaten by wolves?"

She nodded.

"You do know how ridiculous that sounds, right?" he laughed, earning a bitter smirk from her.

"So what?"

"So, there's another reason you're not getting the map," he replied.

"You're such a jerk," she whipped her head back and stormed forward, defiance making itself known with each exaggerated step.

_1 hour later…_

Yuffie blew the bangs from her face as the boredom gnawed at her determination to make it to Wutai. She sighed to break the prolonged silence.

"Reeeeeeeeeeeeee-"

"What?" he cut her off.

"I'm bored," she began to twirl in small circles as she walked behind him.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Fast forward time," she groaned.

"Yeah, I'll just do that Yuffs."

She paused mid-spin and smiled at the name again.

_2 hours later…_

"Can I check the map?" Yuffie asked, honestly hopeful.

She saw him open said map and examine it quickly before rolling it back up and continuing the agonizingly steady pace.

"Well?" she ran up to his side.

"We just keep going west until we reach the mountain pass," he answered simply.

"No fair! I wanted to check!" she pouted.

"Sorry," he grinned at her and was met with a playful punch to the arm. But damn, for being playful, it held some power behind it.

_3 hours later…_

Reno winced and awaited the next imminent outburst as he heard the ninja heave a deep breath and hold it there.

_Oh god._

He ducked his head down in preparation but nothing came.

_Huh?_

Still nothing.

Reno began to turn around to see what was wrong with her, but just as he started to make the movement, the Turk heard Yuffie exhale with a sing-song tone.

"99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer," she danced circles around him as she crooned. He rolled his eyes.

_4 hours later…_

"On the waaaaaaallllll!" she hollered, planting her feet on the ground and beamed at Reno.

"No more bottles of beer on the wall, no more bottles of beer," he relaxed a bit, hearing the end of the song, "Go to the store and buy some more," his eyes widened, "99 bottles of beer on the wall!"

"No!" he interjected, pulling her from her circles by her hands and looked her deep in the onyx eyes that confusion now played over, "No," he pleaded.

"Oh fine…" she waved him off and smirked, "but my beautiful voice paid off."

He gave her a questioning look and she pointed to the rocky caverns that lie ahead.

"Guess you're right," he stared up to the dark passage for a brief moment and continued on.

"Wait, Reno…" Yuffie held her hands close to her mouth and took a step back.

"What now?" he droned.

"Uhh," she remained still and stared beyond him into the cave.

"You ain't scared, are you?" he narrowed his eyes at her.

"Never…" she trailed off.

"Then let's go," he urged, "the sun's setting."

He saw the anxiety in her expression as she nodded her head and practically attached herself to him, making sure she wasn't a centimeter away. As he began walking, he felt her cling to his jacket and almost laughed at the minor things that affected the girl. She ran away from home and lived in the woods at 16 but can't bear to be on a vehicle. She had stolen materia from one of the most intimidating men and his friends who just happened to be classified as terrorists but despised even the slightest mention of her family. She had helped to take down Sephiroth and save The Planet but she was scared of… caves.

"Reno," she halted him as she dug her heels into the compact dirt, "I can't do this. Can't we just take the long way around?" she begged.

"Look, I thought you were The Great Ninja Yuffie. You can't back out now," he declared.

"I lied! Let's just get out of here," he almost felt guilty at the fear in her tone but there was no way in hell he was going to take the long way around. The Turk sighed and crouched with his back facing her.

"Come on."

"Eh?" she half murmured.

He rolled his eyes and reached back, grabbing her arms and slinging them over his shoulders. She immediately understood and hooked them around his neck as well as curling her legs around his waist. The redhead stood and walked the single corridor cavern, doing his best to ignore her hips grinding against his lower back with each step. He felt her lower her face into his jacket and observed their dark surroundings. Limestone columns supported the heavy ceiling that a few rogue bats hung from, not that he was going to let Yuffie know that. The fossilized minerals above mirrored the shape of the creatures that hid in the cocoon of their wings, adding to the somber feeling of the place. Stalagmites broke through the cavern's floor, occasionally jutting out into the path Reno walked, only slightly worn down by the few travelers that took the shortcut. Yuffie gasped.

"Hm?" he looked over his shoulder to her shining eyes and saw her point to his left. A faint glimmer caught his attention and before he knew what was happening, the girl had jumped off his back and ran to it, kneeling down among the rocks. She picked up the black sphere and brushed it off, revealing its green hue.

"Look," she called, waving it in the air at Reno who was thrown at the complete disregard for her previous fear. The two faltered as they felt the ground beneath them tremble, wiping the happy expression from the girls face. He ignored the materia and fixated his attention on the wall behind her, seeing two sallow discs emerge from the darkness. The Turk bolted to her and scooped her off her feet as the creature unveiled itself from the depths, stretching out the webbed wings that previously concealed its fur-covered body. He bounded back from the monster as it dug its claws into the ground and set her behind a large boulder.

"Stay here," he ordered as they felt the ground shake again.

Yuffie's argument went unheard as he ran back out to the beast, drawing his weapon and dashing from side to side to avoid the barrage it inflicted.

"Hey!" the ninja's scream paled in comparison to that of the enemy, "Damn," she muttered as she helplessly observed the redhead simultaneously dodge the endless onslaught while casting repeated fire spells.

She perked up at the sight of the flames and looked back down to the materia she held in her hand. Unsheathing her shuriken, she placed the orb into an empty slot and waited for the familiar flash before it locked in place.

Reno caught a glimpse of light from the corner of his eye where he left Yuffie and stopped in his tracks, looking over to see if she was okay. Another deafening roar emerged from above and he snapped his attention back to the monster whose claw was already rushing at him. The Turk attempted to sprint to the side but the motion was cut short and pain pierced his arm, his EMR flying from his grip as he held his injury.

_Shit…_

Reno knelt down and gritted his teeth as the beast began to hurl another fist at him. The redhead commanded his body to move but it wouldn't heed as the creature bared its fangs and put its force behind the attack.

"Haah!" Reno twisted his head around to the cry and saw Yuffie thrust her shuriken above her head, ribbons of emerald pirouetting around her and casting a glow in the darkness. His eyes widened at the sight of blazing rocks that descended from the air, assaulting the monster and causing it to draw back from him. Its arms flailed and it let out a final tormented screech before falling limp and crumpling to the ground with an impact so great, the floor of the cavern rippled again. Silence overtook the area as Reno stared at her in astonishment. She knelt next to him, revealing a toothy grin and holding her hand up expectantly.

"We're so even now, Turkey," she laughed.

His awe-stricken loss for words was soon replaced by a fierce protectiveness he couldn't explain.

"Are you fucking crazy?" he yelled.

Yuffie lowered her hand and frowned at him, "Crazy? I just saved your life!"

"You could have been killed!" he shouted, his tone tinged with concern.

The girl leaned back and stayed quiet as she discovered the worry in his eyes. He scoffed and looked away.

"I'm sorry…" she whispered.

"Let's just keep going," he stood and clutched at his arm.

"Wait," Yuffie pulled an antidote from her bag and rolled up his sleeve, tending to the wound and bandaging the slight remains of the injury.

"Thanks," he said quietly, regretting his outburst and continued through the abyss, making a point of keeping a closer watch on Yuffie.

* * *

"Finally," the redhead sighed as they approached the entrance to North Corel.

Yuffie skipped ahead of him and scanned the town, still worn but striving to better itself after its years of struggle. The people seemed happier, that was certain.

"C'mon," she tugged at Reno's hand, pulling him through the dirt where houses were being built in place of their shabby, hut-like predecessors.

"Yuffie?" an apprehensive voice called from behind her. The ninja spun to meet the inquiring person and beamed at the sight of the face she easily recalled.

"Lina!" she pulled the timid lady into a bone-crushing hug and smiled even wider when she heard her gentle giggle. Yuffie pulled away to look at the woman's soft features, unsurprised by the benign face that hadn't aged a day.

Reno assessed the woman Yuffie was apparently acquainted with. Her chestnut hair was plaited over her shoulder, somewhat held together by a claret ribbon yet letting her short bangs brush just above her long eyelashes. Her eyes were bright amber and her skin was quite fair if you took the other citizens of Corel into consideration. She wore a ruby hued tunic decorated with a white stripe across the shoulder, from which her airy sleeves flowed only covering up to her elbows. The bottom of the top was loosely tucked into a simple charcoal-toned skirt that hugged her legs until it stopped abruptly in the middle of her calves. She donned straw sandals decorated in small crimson patterns to accent that of her shirt and from her wrist hung a dainty silver bracelet.

"Oh right," Yuffie's voice rose an octave friendlier as she held her hand out to him, "Lina, this is Reno. Reno, Lina."

The woman let out a soft laugh and shook his hand, "Kahlina. Very nice to meet you."

"You as well," he smiled at her, "It seems Yuffie's pretty popular all around Gaia," he glanced back to the ninja who was rubbing the back of her head with an embarrassed grin.

"So," she looked back to the girl and cupped her hands together with an ecstatic smile, "you've finally settled down with someone."

"Uhh," Yuffie drew back as a fierce blush blossomed on her cheeks.

"Of course," Reno beamed and wrapped his arm around her waist.

The girl scowled at the devilish grin he directed toward her but her gaze softened as she caught sight of Kahlina's happiness.

"Yeah," she half growled to Reno and was met with a smirk.

"That's great," the woman held Yuffie's hand as her eyes brightened.

"Mhm," the ninja laughed nervously, "How's Barret?"

"Oh," Kahlina looked down slightly, "I was hoping you'd seen him. He left for Edge a few days ago to see Marlene."

"How come everyone decides to have a family reunion when I leave?" the girl grumbled.

"Bad timing I suppose," the woman looked back up and paused, bringing her finger to her mouth for a moment, "Yuffie… if it isn't too much of an inconvenience…"

"No problem," she smiled, knowing her all too well.

The ninja was answered with a grateful nod, "Thank you," she whispered sweetly.

"Well, I'll be sure to say goodbye tomorrow."

Kahlina gave a slight wave as Yuffie turned and began to search for a hotel alongside Reno.

The redhead looked over his shoulder to the woman who'd begun to walk away and then back to the ninja.

"What was that about?" he inquired.

"She misses Barret."

"That his girlfriend or something?"

"Well…" Yuffie stopped to assess their relationship, "I guess… not?"

Reno raised an eyebrow at her.

"Hm," she devised an analogy, "Think of Spiky and Tifa."

"Ahh," he nodded.

"Speaking of girlfriends," she stopped and turned to him, "I guess I 'settled down' with you?" she concluded cynically.

"I thought I was a pretty good catch," he stuck out his lower lip in mock sadness.

She rolled her eyes and surveyed the street, catching sight of a small hostel.

"There," she pointed to the inn. Hearing no response she turned around to see Reno walking toward another shabby building.

"Hey!" she called after him, "Where are you going?"

He raised a hand without looking back, "Bar."

"What about me?"

"That's your choice, princess," he smirked.

* * *

**Yes, I created another character. Sue me. I figured Barret needed some love ^_^**

**Reviews are always loved.**


	10. The Bar

**Disclaimer- I own absolutely nothing from FFVII, clearly.**

**(A/N) Remember that the notification in chapter 9 was replaced with the real chapter so don't forget to read that first. As promised, here's your lemon chapter. So sorry Neassa-chan but majority rules :/ Let's say for the sake of this chapter, the legal drinking age in Gaia or at least Corel is 18. Oh yes, there shall be booze.**

**

* * *

**

Yuffie's loud groan resonated through the bedroom as she flipped over onto her stomach and dug her arms under the pillow she was burying her face in.

"So bored…" she mumbled into the sheets and half hoped they would respond to her. As much as she liked to fight the feeling, she'd become accustomed to Reno's company and now that he wasn't here, she was… well she was lonely. If there was any emotion Yuffie hated, it was loneliness and it stung more now because she hadn't felt it in the longest time. Being independent didn't mean you were reclusive, as long as you migrated to the right places. She no longer camped in the woods; she had friends she could visit now. And they were all across Gaia, so she was never jaded. Now that she thought about it, independent might not have been the best word to describe her. Maybe she was just nomadic.

Yuffie flipped onto her back again, being quite fickle about how she wanted to lay since she rented the room. She glimpsed at the clock, now reading 8:14 and grimaced before staring at the blank ceiling. Only 8? The night was young; Yuffie had money to blow and boredom to quell. The ninja sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed, grabbing the key from the nightstand and ensuring her decision before standing and approaching the door.

* * *

The Turk observed the tinted glass as foam slowly slid down the neck of the beer bottle. He couldn't decide if it was a good thing or a bad thing to be soothed by the musky atmosphere of a dim bar. He shook his mind of the thought as he took another swig, only to have the void in his mind filled with the stubborn face of the young ninja.

_I wonder if she's okay…_

"Hey," he felt a hard poke in his back and looked over his shoulder to find the girl he was previously envisioning with, expectantly, her hands on her hips.

"Yo," he nodded and signaled her to sit on the barstool next to him. She complied and raised two fingers to the bartender who swiftly poured alcohol into two small shot glasses. Yuffie slid one Reno's way and brought the other closer to her mouth.

"Heh," he scoffed, interrupting the motion, "how old are you anyway?"

She set down the glass, "How old are _you_?" she asked flippantly.

"24," he raised an eyebrow at her. Did she honestly believe he wasn't legal?

"19," she downed the liquor, her smile contorting slightly from the sting, "And that officially makes me NOT a kid."

Reno snickered at her boldness, "Alright," he drank his respectively.

"Besides, you don't have to worry," she twirled a strand of hair through her fingers, "I was only gonna have one."

* * *

"Another two over here!" Yuffie called, raising her fingers in the air for the incalculable time.

"We're so gonna be broke," Reno chuckled and let his face rest in his palm.

"Nuh-uh!" she argued, downing another shot and pointing her thumb toward her face, "When you're a thief, you're never broke," she laughed.

"AHA!" he shouted, "You admit it. You're a thief!"

"Well duh," she rolled her eyes.

"You lied," he stated as if he just had a serious epiphany.

"Lying kinda goes with stealing," she drawled.

"Touché," he flashed the crooked smile that Yuffie felt herself warming up to and held another two fingers in the air.

The drinks arrived and she stopped Reno before he drank his.

"Wait," she hiccupped, grinning like an idiot. He raised his hazy stare to her.

"On three," the redhead nodded, "One… two…" she took a long pause, teasing him, "three."

The pair raised their glasses to each other's mouth and tilted their heads back, sustaining the fuzzy state of mind.

"Damn, you sure can hold your booze," Reno smiled lazily.

"Ya think so?" she questioned before mumbling something incoherent to herself. He nodded.

"S-Same goes for you," she slurred, the alcohol taking its grip on her speech.

"Can I tell you a secret, Turkey?" she asked, her eyes holding just the slightest bit of gravity.

"Hm?" he nodded.

"At first, I didn't like you. Hell, I hated you," Reno's grin faded, "but ya know, you saved me from that crash and you helped me out on that ship. And even though I saved your ass today, you did kinda rescue me first," she stopped to smile coyly at him, "Point is, you're pretty cool."

The Turk found it hard to frown among the aura she gave off.

"Oh," she raised a finger, "and I like it when you call me Yuffs. Keep doing that."

"Can I tell _you _a secret, Yuffs?" his smile held pure mischief.

"Yeah," her voice was laced with anticipation as she cupped a hand around her ear. He leaned in closer, his warm breath making Yuffie shift a little in her seat.

"You're a total geek."

She pulled back and pushed him playfully, both of them giggling.

"But," his tone began to even again and his smirk became even more confident, "I think you're cute."

"Me?" she held her hand to her chest, her already flushed cheeks turning a shade redder from the flattery. Reno nodded and inched nearer.

"In fact," he let his eyes roam over her body and back to her bashful face, "I think you're pretty hot."

Yuffie's embarrassment faded as she saw the redhead's intent playing across his features.

"The feeling's mutual, Turkey," she hummed, surprised at the truth of her own words. He quirked an eyebrow to the response he had to admit he didn't expect.

"You know my favorite part?"

"Tell me," she caught the allure in his cerulean eyes.

"Those little shorts," he snickered.

"Really?" their faces were so close that she could smell the liquor on his breath and smiled, finding that she enjoyed it.

"Really…" he growled.

"Prove it," she murmured. His eyes narrowed slyly and he leaned into Yuffie's lips, savoring how soft they were and how she pulled him deeper with every gesture, be it a slight push with her mouth or a slight pull with her hands. He felt her arms drape around his shoulders as their tongues battled for dominance yet worked together all the same. They broke apart and gasped for air, staring at each other dazed and uncaring to anything else.

"Uh wait," she struggled to keep her wits as she quickly jotted down 'I. O. U. 250 gil' on a napkin while Reno impatiently kissed her neck.

"Okay," she said hurriedly and left the note on the counter as the redhead took her hand and pulled her out of the bar.

* * *

The door slammed behind them as they entered the room, trying the best they could to sustain their need for each other's addictive kisses. From the moment they reached the hotel, Yuffie had been attached to the front of Reno's torso, wildly raking her hands through his crimson hair and tightening her legs around his lower back which drove him mad. Now it was his turn.

The Turk abandoned the bed as he pushed Yuffie up against the wall, causing her to release her grip and shakily unbutton Reno's shirt, which was becoming more difficult as he let his hands rove up and down her body. She pulled the jacket and dress shirt down his arms and discarded them on the floor, smiling against his lips as her fingers danced along his stomach and chest.

Reno tore the hooded vest off of the girl, her increasing pulse becoming more and more desireable. As she bit his lip, he felt his insatiabilty spike and surveyed the copious amount of clothes he refused to waste his time on. There was no way those boots were coming off fast enough for him.

"Fuck it," he groaned and unlatched her belt from its restraints, tossing it on the ground and sliding the shorts down her endless legs and over her shoes. He took a moment to look down at the familiar green underwear and let his cocky laugh do the talking.

"Shut up," she smiled and unhooked his belt as well. Her snicker conveyed her power over him as she heard him grunt when she trailed her thumb from his navel down to his arousal, gripping him there through his boxers.

In response, he lifted the girl's tank top, revealing her smooth mounds that he could tell had grown over the past few years. Yuffie panted, finding herself incredibly turned on at how Reno's expression became more animalistic as he ran a finger up her stomach agonizingly slow to tease her and enjoyed the satisfied sigh that tumbled from her lips. He circled her nipple, resulting in a restless moan and used his other hand to hook the sides of her panties and slide them down. The redhead's wolfish grin sent Yuffie's heartbeat through the roof as he slid his tongue over her stomach and up to her breast. The girl gasped and held him closer, only to have him arise and nip at her ear.

"And you thought I was impatient," she heard the smirk in his voice and was annoyed at herself for loving it. Her eyes widened as Reno lifted one of her legs and let his fingers trail down to her now exposed area, throwing her head back and allowing a small yelp to escape as he caressed her. Every little breath, every moan she made left the Turk wanting more, driving him to plunge his fingers into her. He relished the small victory as she tugged at his hair and writhed anxiously, continuing to work every sweet spot he found on the ninja whether it be gently biting her collarbone or grinding into her inner thighs.

"Ahh," she begged, "hurry."

He made no objections, pulling his member from his boxers as she hungrily sucked on his neck and lifted her off her feet against the wall. The girl comprehended and wrapped her legs around him the same way she had before, securing her place as he hastily positioned himself and grabbed her hips, thrusting into her. Yuffie cried out as the pleasure she'd been waiting for ripped through her body with such a force that she dug her nails into Reno's shoulders, causing him to hiss in a pain spiked euphoria. The cocky smirk was wiped off of his face as he began to rock with her, clenching his teeth together at the unbelievable tightness gripping him. He relieved a small amount of tension with a groan as he smashed his lips against hers, causing her to moan back in his mouth.

"Reno," she breathed into his ear as he began to speed up his pace. The Turk couldn't stop himself from trembling at the amazing sensations she sent rippling through him with each whisper, moan, or beautiful scream she uttered.

"Reno!" her octave hiked up and her breathing became labored, instinctively causing him to use more force. He wanted nothing more than to hear her say his name over and over. He wanted it to echo through the hotel. He wanted her screams to be ingrained into the walls.

Yuffie hooked one arm around the redhead's neck and bent the other to claw at the wall behind her, trying to find an outlet for her rising frenzy. Adrenaline coarsed through her veins, setting her body ablaze as she tried to breathe and greedily ran a hand up and down his abdomen, unable to get enough of him all at once. She pressed her forehead to his and moaned, only further excited by the expression he wore that showed what effect she was having on him. His aquamarine discs swam with lust and held a flicker of desperation as their gazes locked. The girl was sure she had found her new intoxication as he kissed her again and now understood why women were so infatuated with him because Leviathan, he was good at this.

"Reno! Ahh, Reno!" she chanted and held onto him for what seemed like dear life as the intensity of his thrusts grew, sensitizing her whole body with a mind-numbing nirvana. The Turk cursed as he felt himself nearing his limits and looked back into the eyes of the girl. God, he wanted that face to be etched into his mind forever. Tears danced at the brim of her ebony eyes, burning with desire. Her eyebrows knitted together as she fought the shout building in her throat and bit her lip in an attempt to subdue the growing ecstasy inside her, but Yuffie found it impossible to hold back her apex as she screamed a final time, dragging her nails down Reno's back and bucking her hips against his.

"Fuck," he grunted at his inability to go on. She tightened around him even more, the convulsions of her orgasm causing him to dig his fingers into her hips and bite her neck with a growl as he climaxed so hard, he felt like he was going to pass out for a moment.

They remained willingly caught in a long silence as they both struggled to catch their breath, panting and stroking each other's bare skin. Eventually, Yuffie unwrapped her legs from his waist and weakly stood on her own two feet, knees bent slightly inward as she still gently gripped his shoulders to support herself. Reno had taken one hand from the wall and lifted her chin up to meet his eyes before a grin spread across his handsome features. She shot him a sly smirk and ran a thumb across his jaw line in response.

"Ah hell, Yuffs," he scooped her off her feet, earning a giggle and lay her down on the bed before crawling over her semi nude form predatorily. He pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it onto the ground, causing a seductive smile to erupt on her face.

"You know you won't be able to look at me like that from now on, right?" he whispered. As she pulled him back down to her level, Yuffie snickered and decided to let her lips answer him.

* * *

**How's that for citrus? I'm definitely looking for ways to improve my writing on this chapter because this was in fact my first full lemon. I've written lime but never lemon so tell me what you think.**

**Reviews ^_^**


	11. The Morning After

**Disclaimer- I own nothing from FFVII, you realize.**

**(A/N) I'm sorry for slacking on this fanfiction recently but I've been literally SWAMPED with... well life recently. Geez it sucks being busy. Anyway here's chapter 11 (man this fic is getting long). It was so hard trying to capture that awkward tension after a one nighter but I tried :/**

**

* * *

**

Yuffie faded into awareness, willing to stay in the betwixt of asleep and awake for as long as she wanted. She dismissed the thought of time and smiled into her pillow because for some reason, she felt… amazing. Knowing that she wasn't going to fall back into a slumber anytime soon, she decided to make herself comfortable and shifted a little, puzzled at the limited range of her motion. Her eyelids snapped open and took a moment to adjust on her surroundings, but when they focused she gasped at her position. Her hands were resting on the chest of her 'bodyguard' and her face was buried under his chin as she felt him breathing softly into her hair. She discovered her restriction of movement was a result of his arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer to him.

The ninja broke from his embrace and shot up straight in the bed, gasping again as she felt the sheets brush against her bare skin and quickly pulled the blanket up to cover her chest.

_I'm naked?_

She looked under the sheets to assess her indeed nude body and looked down at a content Reno with her mouth agape.

"Reno!" she exclaimed, her lips swollen and voice hoarse from… oh god.

"Reno!" she shook him fiercely, earning a groan as he stirred, his eyebrows knitting together in slight complaint.

"Turkey!" she shouted, worsening the dull ache in her head and hit him with a pillow. He reluctantly growled and rolled onto his back, bringing the base of his palms to his eyes in order to shield them from the light.

"What?" he rasped, annoyed.

Yuffie waited for him to remove his hands from his face and was put only slightly at ease when his expression of shock mirrored hers. His stare rose up the girl's exposed back and to her neck which was eclipsed in reddish-purple bruises then back to her face, still stupefied.

"Oh Gods…" she breathed and lay back down under the blanket, covering herself as she picked up items of her clothing from the ground.

"Yuffie?" he hesitated, searching his mind for a way to make a sentence again as he raked a hand through his hair.

"Don't look!" she squealed and rustled under the sheets, slipping into her tank top and the khaki shorts that had gotten them into this situation in the first place. Reno decided to follow suit and pulled his pants over his boxers as he repeatedly glanced back to the frazzled girl who'd made her way to the mirror and gawked at the sight of the marks on her neck disbelievingly. The redhead approached from behind, his belt buckle still hanging loose and ran his finger along the trail of hickeys she'd branded on him.

"Well at least we know it was consensual," he quirked an eyebrow at their reflections, too serious for comfort.

Her eyebrows furrowed upward and her cloudy discs filled up with an emotion he couldn't quite peg as her face flushed scarlet.

"You okay, Yuffs?" he whispered.

"Don't call me that!" she snapped, making him draw back clearly startled. Her eyes became remorseful almost instantly but she refused to apologize. Sighing, she averted her gaze from the mirror and dug through her backpack quickly before setting it on the bed with a frown.

"We're broke again," she stated.

Reno rubbed his head, throbbing in pain, with a scowl. Must have blown everything on the bar. He sat down on the bed, hunched over with his face in his palms and tried to remember the details of last night's events to no avail. Yuffie's sharp breath interrupted his thoughts.

"What?" he muttered.

She twisted him around so his back faced the mirror. He looked over his shoulder to find that his skin was marred by numerous claw marks dragging down to his waist. He wasn't, however, as worried as her. You suffer much worse as a Turk. Besides, though he would never admit it out loud, Yuffie's love scratches were scars he could deal with. He looked back to the ninja who was running her hand up and down her neck anxiously.

"How are we gonna cover these up?"

Reno grabbed his shirt from the bed and slid his arm through one of the sleeves.

"I honestly don't think we can," he admitted as he tried to focus on the buttons instead of the girl's expression that had fallen flat.

Yuffie sighed heavily and bent down to begin lacing her shoes up.

"Wonderful…"

* * *

"You know," Reno whispered as they dragged through the poorly paved dirt paths of North Corel that barely qualified as streets. Yuffie grunted as the sunlight seemed to solely beat down on the two of them, validating her shame to the rest of the inhabitants of the town and worsening her migraine, "you're only attracting more attention to yourself."

The ninja tried to deny the statement, but her mentality agreed with the Turk as she steadfastly held her hands to her neck in an attempt to conceal the bruises. Well at least she was trying. Reno made a point to do absolutely nothing about the marks, sauntering along without what seemed like a care in the world if they were criticized or not. Yuffie envied him for doing a much better job at brushing off the stares of the villagers that passed them in the street, who seemed much too interested. It irritated her even more that after she caught them ogling, they would quickly avert their eyes and pretend as if they hadn't seen anything.

"Yuffie!" a familiar voice called from a shack-like abode. The ninja covered her face and sped up her walking as Reno snapped his head up to see Kahlina step out from behind the curtain that sealed the entrance with a troubled expression when she was met with Yuffie's defensive action. The redhead tried to reassure her with a wave but it didn't seem to ease the anxiety of the woman as she replied with a weak wave of her own.

Kahlina sighed worriedly as she observed the couple cross the exit to the town. Yuffie had promised to say goodbye to her and while she tried to be understanding toward the girl, who probably had much more important things to tend to, a simple fact made itself blatantly known in her mind. Yuffie never broke a promise.

* * *

Reno shoved his hands in his pockets and looked up to see the beams of dim light that strained to puncture the thick canopy overhead. And through the past 9 or odd hours of navigating through the plains and eventually the expanse of the forest in a labored reticence, he could only come to a single conclusion. Somehow, he fucked up.

The redhead brought his stare back down to the sedate ninja who pressed on without a word as she had the entire day. And for some unexplained reason, he wasn't even remotely concerned with the accuracy of the path they had taken, seeing as he entrusted her with the map and the lead. He told himself it was to avoid any confrontation though it was pretty clear she wouldn't make a fuss either way due to the unsettling vow of silence she seemed to have taken. No, he didn't care about that. He wanted to know what was wrong with _her_.

She wasn't as hyperactive and blatantly confident as her usual demeanor called for, not that Reno really minded that. But the thing that really threw him off was that she wasn't openly expressing any anger or dissatisfaction in the typical childish manner. Instead, she just walked on solemnly, only pausing occasionally to check the map. She just seemed so… empty and somewhere in his mind, he knew that it was his fault.

"We should camp here for the night," Yuffie broke the perpetuate silence with a statement that was barely there and stared at the setting sun. There was no way they could make it to an inn by nightfall so they would have to use the bit of daylight left to find the materials for a fire.

Reno nodded, causing the ninja to set her backpack down and set off in search for firewood. As she disappeared behind the brush, the Turk smacked his forehead with the base of his palm. She finally talked after nearly a whole day of nothing but the sound of their footsteps and he didn't say anything?

"Dammit," he muttered and trudged off in the opposite direction with the same objective in mind.

* * *

Yuffie scavenged through the pile of newly discovered timber and sighed. It had really taken her the whole day to process such a clear fact. She slept with Reno.

The ninja shook her head fiercely and tried to focus on the wood she was raking through but soon failed. How in Leviathan's name did that happen? And more importantly, how was she going to look him in the eyes again?

She bundled a sparse amount of tinder under her arm, knitting her eyebrows together at the diminutive quantity of dry wood. It must have rained the night before. She spun back around and began walking through the thicket that confirmed her suspicions as small rivulets of water flowed from the leaves when she brushed them. Her head thumped again and she winced at the ache as it brought Reno to the forefront of her mind again. Right. Booze was how it happened.

The girl lifted a branch and continued advancing back to the campsite as she tried to remember what exactly happened in vain. Nothing came to her and suddenly she felt a surge of anger wash over her. At who, she couldn't decipher nor did she care.

"Gods!" she stomped her foot and stopped in her tracks, holding back her urge to scream at the sky.

"Of all people," she grumbled, entirely too absorbed in her thoughts to not let them exit her mouth, "Of all the damn people in Corel. It had to be him, didn't it?"

Yuffie huffed sharply and closed her eyes to calm down.

_A rewind button would be really freaking useful right about now. Well that or… I dunno, magical memory wizardry or something._

The ninja breathed as she ducked under another branch, the makeshift camp coming into her view along with the redhead who was rearranging his materia. Her eyes widened at the sight of three dry and substantial logs propped up into a position similar to that of a teepee. She looked back down to her armful of kindling and then back to the wood he collected. It seems she underestimated his survival skills. She always figured that the Turks were city crawlers, not quite fit for the harsh wild but… well you should never judge a book by its cover.

Reno snapped his head up to the girl and sat up straight, fiddling with the strap that held the goggles to his head. It was a nervous habit he'd developed over the years but hardly found himself doing it because, as Rude would say, he simply 'had no shame for anything'.

"Hey…"

"Hey," she approached him and kneeled down to begin stacking the bundle of twigs around the skeleton of logs he'd already set up, suddenly uncomfortable with the silence. Had it been like this all day?

"Do we have any flint?" she asked.

"No need," Reno raised his EMR to the pile of timber as a flame shot from the tip of the metal. She'd forgotten he had Fire materia. Yuffie observed the fire grow, the flickers of scarlet and orange dancing on the logs that now crackled. The ninja sat back against the tree he leaned on and watched the horizon as the last bit of sun began to disappear behind it, obfuscating the colors of the sky with dusky shades of charcoal. She tried to keep herself from glimpsing back and forth between the hypnotizing fire and Reno's turquoise eyes that were now illuminated by the flames he seemed to be focusing on intently. He was still playing with that strap on his goggles, which made him look a little childish in her opinion.

"Yuffie," the redhead furrowed his eyebrows together at how unsteady his voice was, "about last night…"

She raised her head expectantly and was met with nothing but silence.

"…I'm listening," she raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I didn't really have anything after that. I was kinda hoping that you would cut me off like in the movies," he admitted.

"Great plan," she tried not to smirk.

"Look, cut me some slack. I don't know what I'm doing here," And he didn't. Reno practically lived on one night stands but he'd never felt bad about it before. And he certainly never tried to apologize for one. He could handle being forced out of his comfort zone when it came to work but when it came to sex, he thought he knew it better than the back of his own hand and Yuffie had just proven him wrong.

She just hugged her knees close to her chest and searched for something to say in the depths of the fire.

"So…" he whispered.

"You know I don't do things like that all the time, right?" she blurted.

"What?"

"The whole one night stand thing. I don't do it," she looked back to him.

"I-I never said that," he waved his hands in front of his face.

"It just happened, you know," the ninja set her hands down and desperately tried to convince him, "If I wasn't all boozed up, nothing would've turned out that way. I mean, I don't even drink that much."

"Yuffie?" Reno drew back from her passion as she flailed her arms in the air and went on.

"I'm good for the most part! There were some materia incidents and this one party… Oh boy that was wild, but for the most part, it's not like I'm a bad person."

"Yuffie," she ignored him.

"It's just like…" she shrugged, "Damn! I can never make a good first impression! But you know I'm not a whore right? What am I talking about? Of course you think I'm a hoebag."

"Yuffie!" he shouted, pulling her from her rant as she stopped midsentence, "I don't think you're a hoebag."

"You don't?"

"No I don't. I was…" he paused and scratched the back of his head, "Well I was kinda trying to say sorry."

"Sorry?" her eyes lit up with either hope or the flames from the fire, Reno couldn't tell.

"Yeah," the redhead looked down.

"You serious?" she cocked her head sideways to get a better look at his face.

"Yeah," he lifted his head, "I'm serious."

A smile slowly spread on Yuffie's face, reaching from ear to ear.

"Well, would you look at this?" the ninja tugged lightly on his ponytail, "Reno of the Turks apologizing."

He quirked an eyebrow at her grin.

"And for scoring no less!" she giggled, completely relieving Reno of the worry he felt at her emotional absence, "Why do I feel like this is a once-in-a-lifetime thing?"

The Turk relaxed against the tree, unaware that his whole body was tensed up until now, and smiled back to the girl who had recovered her personality.

"Because it is," he laughed, earning a light-hearted punch to the arm.

"Yeah I figured…" Yuffie smiled.

* * *

**At first, I was going to have his nervous habit be twirling his ponytail but it just seemed so girly and unlike him so goggles it was.**

**I'd like to say how overwhelmed I am with the positive response to this story. You guys are really turning me into a review whore, not that I mind. Thank you so much for the feedback :)**


	12. The Gunslinger

**Disclaimer- I own nothing from FFVII. Duh...**

**(A/N) Yeah, you know who I'm talking about ;P Apparently, this chapter could serve as a bit of fanservice for those of you who support both pairings but I honestly only intended it as story progression. Ah well, here's a pretty long chappie for you guys.**

**Enjoy!**

**

* * *

**

"Hey Reno?"

The Turk took his focus away from the map and rolled it back up to look at the young ninja who was prancing behind him with her head in the clouds. He couldn't really complain seeing as he desperately wanted to reverse her tendency to be vocally withdrawn since yesterday's painful silence. She had definitely made up for it and then some today.

"Yeah?"

"How often do you have to dye your hair?" she inquired.

"What?" he examined her face curiously but found only innocence.

"You know," she skipped in front of him, halting his path, and tugged on one of the strands that hung loose in front of his face, "to keep up with the color."

"I don't…" his eyebrows knitted together skeptically.

"Huh?" she seemed genuinely surprised.

"I don't have to dye it."

"What?" her awe quickly converted into mock disbelief as she leaned forward with a hand on her hip and poked his forehead, "No way! There's no way that's natural!"

"It is," he grinned a little at her doubt.

She stood up straight and folded her arms over her chest stubbornly, "Nuh-uh!"

"How long have we been travelling together now?" he began walking again, the girl trailing close behind.

"Um…" she raised her finger to her mouth, "5 days. But that doesn't include the day of the helicopter crash or the day we spent passed out after that."

"So 7 days?" Reno concluded, trying to reach his point and realizing in the process that they were very behind schedule considering they already should have been in Wutai for a day now. Not to mention, they had two more stops until they reached their destination.

She nodded.

"Don't you think the dye, if I dyed my hair, would have faded a little by now?" he asked, calling attention to something she hadn't thought about.

"Good point," she pouted, "Well, congratulations on being a ginger."

He rolled his eyes and ignored the statement.

"You ever think of cutting your hair a little?" the girl asked, sizing up the image of a short-haired Reno in her mind with much resistance. She stuck her tongue out, not quite fond of the thought.

"You ever think of growing yours out?" he retorted with a smirk and turned to look back at Yuffie, picturing her with long locks like Tifa. He quirked an eyebrow at the strange possibility.

They shook their heads in unison and kept pressing forward.

"So where's our next stop?" she clasped her hands behind her back as she strolled along.

"Well, I don't know where we're going to get money for an inn but, Nibelheim."

"Nibelheim?" she beamed.

"Yeah? What of it?"

"If we're going to Nibelheim, we don't need money," the girl smiled at their luck.

"Why not?"

"I know a guy…"

* * *

Yuffie walked through the near abandoned main square of Nibelheim, watching the time-worn wooden shades of the windows clack together and fail to withstand the wind that gusted through. Her expression became a bit crestfallen as she observed the empty town, its expanse paint-chipped and forgotten with desertion. The ninja always found it ironic that after the defeat of Sephiroth, most villages, towns, cities, whatever you want to call them, began to recover and innovate again. But the hometown of two members of AVALANCHE and residence of one became… well this. A dusty remainder of the beginnings of heroes and villains, so it seemed. Maybe, everyone had just been scared off after learning the truth behind the events that had been hidden for years. Could you really blame them?

Yuffie's wandering stare was interrupted as she felt something cold and hard halt the path she followed and fell backward onto the ground with a light thud. She rubbed her backside as she looked up to see the gate that blocked her advance.

"Oww…" she grumbled. The ninja looked up to see Reno silently chuckling at her and folded her arms over her chest grudgingly.

"Why didn't you snap me out of it?" she asked, already knowing the answer to the question.

"Where's the fun in that?" he smirked, and looked back up to the gate. The bars intertwined with each other, held together by what seemed like intricate Elizabethan designs and a touch of rust that harshly contrasted with the iron. Reno quirked an eyebrow at how the gate looked so weak yet firm at the same time, looking past the bars and to the mansion that lay beyond. Its eerie stature loomed over the expanse of the town, exuding a dark regality that was all quite opposite from the rest of the area, rural and humble.

"You sure about this, Yuffie?" he questioned as he couldn't deny the feeling that they weren't welcome here, but the ninja was already tampering with the lock, bobby pin and years of experience in tow.

"Ya scared?" she smiled devilishly, not taking her eyes off the metal.

"Tch," he scoffed at her assumption.

She snickered cockily, not so sure about the reality of his self assuredness.

"Got it!" she pumped her fist in the air as the lock gave a final click. Yuffie pushed open the gates, earning an unpleasant dissonance caused from disuse, and scampered ahead. She seemed unable to control her bubby disposition. As Reno followed close behind, he couldn't help but wonder why she was so damn happy to be near this abandoned mansion. He didn't like the idea of her going in there; it made him uneasy.

The ninja skipped up the steps and began pounding on the wood with her fist, completely ignoring the presence of the doorknocker in front of her.

"Open up!" she called. Reno quirked an eyebrow at the girl who pouted when she was met with silence.

"Heyyy!" she pounded again before scowling. The girl stepped back and sighed, observing the door in a scrutinizing manner.

"So stubborn…" she mumbled and turned her back to the door, taking a deep breath and moving her hands steadily down from her chest with a fluid motion. Yuffie's eyes snapped open as she focused her strength in one area, suddenly thankful for those sleepless nights spent training. She raised her leg and spun around, releasing all of her force built behind the kick with a sharp breath.

The redhead watched in shock at the ninja who merely laughed at the now shattered door and sprinted through her makeshift entrance.

"Wait!" he chased after her, causing the girl to stop and turn to face him once they were inside the manor with her hands on her hips.

"Can you stop worrying, Turkey? I know what I'm doing here," she replied cheekily.

"I-" he started before hearing a quick and light footstep. He snapped his head up to the sound and looked over the ninja's shoulder to see a flash of claret approach.

"Yuffie!" Reno dashed ahead of her, one arm raised to cover the girl and the other drawing his EMR to the being that intended to attack her. He lifted his weapon to the person's throat who stopped short and cut his eyes at the recognizable man when he mirrored his action with a gun as opposed to a stun baton.

"Well," he snickered at the familiar face who returned his sneer with emotionless recognition, "it's been a while, Valentine."

"Reno," the man still held Peacemaker to the redhead's throat.

"Vinnie!" the ninja hopped on Vincent's back and beamed, running her hands through his hair and giggling childishly. Reno stifled a breath at the sight and glanced over his shoulder. She was faster than he gave her credit for. She must have caught the flustered look on his face, waving off the mens' rivalry for a moment.

"I told you I could handle myself," she smiled, letting her hands rest on Vincent's shoulders, who now lowered his gun and looked up to meet her grin.

"Yuffie."

"The one and only!" she raised a thumb to her face.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Oh, just dropping by for a visit," she patted his head, "And Reno!" she shouted, pointing an accusing finger at him, "Put your weapon down! You're gonna scare Vinnie."

He drew back from the statement and furrowed his eyebrows together. _Why is she taking his side?_

"I'm the farthest thing from scared, Yuffie," Vincent shook his head slightly at the patronization.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" he snapped in offended tone.

"I thought the statement was quite clear," Vincent answered politely, disconcerted by the Turk's hotheadedness. Such a temper is an easily exploited weakness.

"Yuffie," the gunslinger began, his expression becoming even more disappointed than usual, "is there a reason you did that to my door?"

She stared back to the splintered hunk of wood that hung from its hinges with a sheepish smile.

"Uh yeah…" she gave a nervous laugh and looked back to the Turk who'd crossed his arms over his chest, "I guess we have some explaining to do."

* * *

"Because I didn't answer the door?" Vincent propped his elbows up on the table and folded his hands near his mouth.

Yuffie nodded, taking an enormous bite out of an apple.

"That's not exactly the best argument for breaking down a person's door…"

"Look Vinnie," she set down the apple and swallowed the mouthful to make her words clearer, "of course you remember the last time I was here right?"

Vincent nodded.

"Then don't you remember me saying that if you didn't answer the door next time, I was gonna break it down?"

"I suppose so…"

"Well that's what I did," she stated very as-a-matter-of-factly and stood up from the table to begin rummaging through his pantry again.

"I didn't take it as a literal threat," he admitted with a sigh, "but I see that I must now."

"You bet," she agreed, "You kept the sakuma drops from last time right?"

"She keeps food here?" Reno asked out loud to nobody, letting his thoughts bleed into speech.

"Course!" she chirped, "I don't wanna have to lug a buffet every time I come over here,"

"Buffet?"

"Yeah, the last time, I stayed for about a week and Vampy barely eats anything so I was pretty much starving and…"

Reno's mind began to tune out the girl's words as his eyebrow involuntarily twitched in annoyance. _She stays the night here?_

"But _that'll _never happen again," she finished.

"I have another question if it's of convenience," Vincent interjected.

"Mhm?" Yuffie sat back down at her chair with the small, colorful package in her hand.

"Why exactly are you travelling with Reno?" he asked.

"Hm," she raised a finger to her chin, reviewing her memories briefly before deciding to summarize it. Vinnie was the kind of guy that didn't like those long stories, no matter how awesomeriffic they were in her case, "Long story short, he's my bodyguard," she smiled, more accepting of the fact now than she ever was.

Vincent raised his eyebrows in pleasant surprise. If she was willing to travel with a bodyguard, she was becoming less headstrong, "I never assumed you a person to hire a bodyguard."

"Pfft. Hired him?" Yuffie popped one of the little candies into her mouth, "You know me better than that, Vinnie."

Reno sat back in his chair and rolled his eyes. Without him, she could have died three times already…

Vincent stared at the two, waiting for an explanation.

"I guess I'm caught up in this political risk mumbo jumbo… So I need an escort if I'm going to Wutai. Which you already know I planned on," she informed.

"Political risk?"

"Her father was nearly killed in an attempt at a political assassination," Reno piped up, his tone quite serious, "so I was called to be her bodyguard."

Yuffie nodded at his explanation.

"I thought WRO had access to helicopters," Vincent shifted his implied question toward the Turk.

"We do," he confirmed.

"Were you not granted permission to one?"

"Well, we were…" he trailed off, causing Vincent to narrow his eyes at the man.

"We crashed it," Yuffie shrugged, eating another candy.

Vincent's garnet pools widened in concern at the thought of the danger she was in with her so called 'bodyguard' before he sat back in his chair and glared at Reno, the gesture being the only thing that kept him from physically hurting the man. The readhead returned the glower without any hesitance. He'd taken all of the damage from the crash. Not to mention, it wasn't any of his business anyway. Yuffie whipped her head back and forth between the men's scowls, feeling the blazing tension in between.

"So," she laughed nervously, "how bout that weather, huh?"

"I can handle her," Reno answered Vincent's thoughts sternly without looking back to the distressed girl.

"I never said you couldn't," he pointed out, a distaste for the redhead creeping up his throat as he spoke.

"I'm not a fool, Valentine," Reno grew tired of his ability to work around all accusations.

"No, I suppose you aren't…" cynicism practically dripped from the words, earning a slight growl from the Turk.

"Okay!" Yuffie chirped, getting up and stuffing the colorful box into her pocket, "Gotta talk to you, Reno," she beamed artificially.

"Hmph," he disregarded her and refused to remove his heated stare from an annoyed Vincent.

"Now!" she disguised her irritation with a laugh and pulled him up from the chair by his ear, earning a curse.

"The hell are you doing?" he rubbed his ear and stared at her creepy mask of cheerfulness in confusion. She pushed him out of the room, only turning back to raise a finger to Vincent, and around the corner of the doorframe.

"Wha-" he was cut off as she pushed his back against the wall and put her hands on her hips. He knew what that meant.

"Why are you being such a jerkface?" she made no attempt to hide her dissatisfaction now.

"I am not being a jerkface," Reno stopped himself before he cut his eyes at her.

"Like hell! Why are you being so mean to Vinnie?" she poked him hard in the chest and wrinkled her nose.

"No reason…" he pouted and looked away from her stubborn eyes.

"Liar!" she folded her arms over her chest.

"Am not!" he snapped.

"Are too!" she retorted.

"I'm not lying, Yuffie!" he tried to assure her to no avail.

"Psh," she rolled her eyes and continued in her sarcastic tone, "Yeah and Cloud doesn't use hair gel. Just tell me."

"It's…" he stared back into her cloudy discs, expectantly waiting for an answer, "It's cause he doesn't think I can protect you!" he shouted abruptly.

Yuffie raised her eyebrows and drew back a little, honestly a little stunned.

"I saw it. That's what he thinks…" he lowered his eyes, "but I can."

_Was he really that worried?_

"I know you can," she smiled to relieve his obvious anxiety, "You don't have to prove yourself, Turkey."

"Hmph," he crossed his arms and tried to find something else to focus his stare on, suddenly a little embarrassed from the outburst.

The ninja beamed and latched herself onto his arm, causing the man to flinch and try to pull away but she held fast to him.

"Aww!" she cooed, smiling widely at him, "Is little Reno insecure?"

"No way!" he tried to push her off and failed as she pinched his cheeks, laughing when he cut his eyes at her.

"Yuffie," he warned.

"Oh well," she detached herself from his arm and waved him off, "you don't have to worry. He's just a little paranoid is all, but that's just Vinnie so don't pay any mind to it, okay?"

Reno simply nodded as the girl swung her arms and heaved a sigh, becoming a little less playful.

"It's getting kinda late," she stared past the tattered curtains, seeing the handful of stars twinkle past the enormous window pane, "We need an early start tomorrow, so…"

"Yeah. Is there a place for me to sleep?"

"Reno, it's a mansion," she laughed, "we'll find a place."

"What about you?"

"I already have my own room," she glanced back to the dining room, "but I have some catching up to do first."

"No problem," he slipped his hands in his pockets and turned in search of a room.

"And, Reno?" he stopped midstep and looked over his shoulder to her, "You _are_ doing a good job," she smiled.

* * *

Reno snapped up straight in the bed for the countless time that night and furrowed his eyebrows in frustration. He just couldn't sleep and it was bugging the hell out of him. Raking a hand through his hair, Reno shivered at how chilly the room was and stared out the open pane. A thin fog hung low over the town as a constant biting breeze flowed through the window, causing the brittle curtains to whip around. The man scowled and threw the sheets off of his lap before swinging his feet over the edge of the bed and sighing deeply. He gripped one shoulder with his hand and shook his head; he didn't want to be here.

The redhead dragged himself from the bed and struggled to catch his footing before opening the door and looking down the hallway. A glass of water would be nice…

Reno rubbed his eyes and sauntered down the endless hall, glad that carpet concealed the loose floorboards, worn from time.

"Hm?" he made a small grunt deep within his throat and stopped short as he heard muffled voices nearby. Yuffie's recognizable giggled sounded through his head as its remnants ricocheted off the walls and into his ears. Reno creeped up to the door where the sound was coming from and pressed his back against the wall, for he didn't want to be seen and the door was cracked open in the slightest.

"Don't be so hard on him, Vinnie" he heard her whisper, "He tries. Really, he does."

Reno knitted his eyebrows together. Were they talking about him?

"I only have your well-being in mind."

"Well, if that's how you look at it, I'll have you know he does his job quite well," the redhead heard the smile in her voice.

"He has to. He is a Turk, after all."

"That's right," she paused, "I nearly forgot… that you would know all about that, wouldn't you?"

Reno heard no response from Vincent.

"Either way, give him some credit, huh. He deserves it."

"You seem quite fond of him now, Yuffie. That's different," the gunslinger whispered.

"Yeah, well people change."

"You trust him?"

The Turk winced, surprisingly a little nervous to hear her response. Almost as if to tease him, there was a long silence before she talked again.

"Of course…" she spoke softly, "He _is _my bodyguard after all."

Reno's eyes widened at the statement.

"You've matured, Yuffie," Vincent stated.

"Well I wouldn't count on that," he heard some rustling behind the door and a giggle from Yuffie. Whatever the action was, it earned an annoyed sigh from the gunslinger.

"Nevermind…"

"Yeah yeah," the ninja yawned.

"Goodnight," he heard Vincent get up and panicked.

_Shit! He's gonna catch me._

Reno looked around for a place to hide as Yuffie muttered a 'Night, Vinnie'. He cursed the gunslinger for keeping his hallways bare and began to run as swiftly and lightly as he could to the end of the corridor. He turned the corner and pressed himself against the opposite wall as he heard the door click and kept his breathing as low as possible, hoping he hadn't been spotted. Reno heard a few light footsteps before Vincent spoke up.

"I know that you're there, so you can come out now," his calm tone irritated the Turk but it was clear he wasn't getting out of this. Reno revealed himself from behind the corner and suddenly felt like a coward.

"I was really just about to get some water but then I heard voices so…" he trailed off, wondering why he was explaining himself when he knew the man didn't care anyway.

"Yuffie is quick to judge and slow to accept," he expectantly ignored the redhead's explanation, "yet she speaks highly of you…"

Reno remained silent as Vincent lifted his head to look at him.

"Do not take that for granted."

"I wouldn't," he murmured.

"Do not betray her trust. It is rare," the gunslinger walked off without another word.

_It is rare?_

The words reverberated through Reno's mind as he watched his tattered cloak disappear behind the wall.

_I won't._

* * *

**Lame chapter ending!**

**Was this OOC for Reno? It kind of seemed like it to me but the idea of a slightly jealous Reno (normally a smooth, collected ladies man) was just too irresistebly cute.**

**Poor Vinnie never had a clue...**


	13. The Pilot

**Disclaimer- Nothing from FFVII is or ever will be in my posession... clearly.**

**(A/N) Sorry this update took so long. I blame it on excessive homework and my obscene laziness. Not to mention, the site refused to let me upload the chapter for whatever reason D:**

**I know what you're thinking: 'Come on. Another easily decipherable nickname for a title?' And the answer is yes. I want and I shall add him in this story! He and Reno just have too much in common for me to overlook. Badass, chain-smoking, swearing packages of air-savvy awesomeness.**

**Oh, and the first part of the chapter was inspired by Reno + Yuffie by ~Ellypoo (don't know how to hyperlink this) on deviantART. If any of you have looked up Reffie fanart, you may have come across this but I just think it's adorable.**

* * *

Yuffie yawned obnoxiously loud and rubbed her eyes as she stumbled along. This was just too much. The sun had barely cracked the surface of the horizon and when she could still see stars in the sky, it was officially deemed too early for the ninja to be mobile.

"Reno, why'd we have to leave so freaking early this morning?" she verbalized her thoughts.

"Because we should be getting ready to _leave _Wutai by now and we're not even on the island yet," he sighed. His voice was saturated in complaint as opposed to the explanatory tone he shot for.

"Ugh!" her arms flopped down at her sides. The Turk kept advancing lifelessly in that weird silence she hated, not bothering to do anything about the disheveled deep red strands hanging in front of his face. He probably didn't want to admit he was tired too, but it showed regardless as he had no sarcastic remark about her whining or the steadily decreasing sexual innuendos born strictly from boredom and Yuffie walking directly into his traps because, well, they had nothing else to do during the countless hours spent walking. It was times like these that she really wished they had the helicopter back.

"Reno…" she strode up behind him and let her hands rest on his shoulders. She knew this was selfish but…

"No," he refused in a knowing tone.

"Please," she didn't bother dragging the request out in a childish tone because she was serious right now.

The Turk looked over his shoulder to meet her desperately glimmering doe eyes and sighed in defeat. _God dammit…_

A long silence passed before he mumbled a hesitant 'Fine'. The ninja hopped up on his back and draped her arms around his neck, relaxing a bit when he held her legs in place. Reno questioned himself as she laid her head on his shoulder and became still. When had he become so easily persuaded? He was often at the other end of that kind of situation.

"50 cool points," she breathed and almost immediately fell out of consciousness, lulled into a slumber by his sea of crimson and navy.

Reno shook his head and steadied his pace. One word with those stupid puppy dog eyes and now he was piggybacking her through Gaia. The redhead rolled his eyes at himself. If Rude could have seen him now, he'd never live it down. The worst part was that he wouldn't even say anything but rather, just give him that mocking stare. He'd grown less of a reserved man over the past couple of years because the initial restrictions of a Turk weren't quite necessary anymore. And with nothing to do in the workplace, they all gossiped like old women and blackmailed each other so much that even the most virtuous nun would catch hell.

This, the young ninja sleeping soundly on his back, would spread like wildfire. He could almost hear Elena's ridicule: 'Oh what's this?' she would taunt him in that irritating uppity tone, 'The mighty Reno whipped?' He narrowed his eyes at the thought. She was pretty bold for still being the rookie amongst them.

Even with the arrogant statement in mind, Reno couldn't help but admit that he didn't mind it that much. Maybe a little, but not as much as he should have.

* * *

The Turk quirked an eyebrow as he felt the ninja stir against his back and sigh.

"You awake?" he whispered.

"Mhm," Yuffie hummed, lazily opening her eyes to meet the warm sun that had finally risen to a height she was more accustomed to seeing. She remained silent as she rubbed her eyes and adjusted to the light, wrapping her arms loosely around his neck and recovering from the slight fatigue. He was pretty generous, letting her sleep on his back most of the morning. Her mind wandered back to the messy sheets on his couch back in Edge. _Chivalrous if he tried._

"Thank you," she broke the quiet.

"No problem, I guess," he shrugged.

"You want one?" she snickered, hoping he wouldn't consider the offer for the piggyback ride.

"I'll pass."

Yuffie tapped his shoulder, causing Reno to pause for a second, as she slinked through his grip and back onto the ground. The Turk rolled his shoulders and became used to the lack of weight again.

The girl really wanted to know how far away Rocket Town was, being that she slept the morning away. She looked up to Reno, still a little worn if you asked her, and ultimately decided not to pester him with her questions. They would probably be there soon anyway.

Almost as if to answer her suspicions, Yuffie squinted to see the faint shadow of a tall structure. It couldn't be anything but… the rocket! The energy returned to the girl as she spotted the unmistakable landmark. She had the best timing.

"There it is!" Yuffie suddenly pointed outward and began sprinting toward the outline of the town. Reno whipped his head to the direction she fled in, thrown by her spontaneity. She could go from a slumber to hyperactivity in an almost unbelievable amount of time.

"Let's go slacker!" she stuck her tongue out at him and hurried ahead, earning a challenging smirk from him.

"Slow down, kid!" he chased after her, seriously questioning how fast those skinny legs could take her.

"Aw come on, Turkey!" she cupped her hands around her mouth and called back to him, "You caught me before. Or are you losing your touch?" she taunted with an impish grin.

"You wish!" he made a final dash toward the cocky ninja and hooked an arm around her waist, bringing her to the ground in a gentle tackle. She giggled and squirmed underneath his grip as he held her firmly in place. Yuffie gave a final breathy chuckle and twisted to face him, cutting his laughter short. The girl's eyes lost their glimmer of mischief and her smirk slowly faded as she met his stare, causing the redhead's devilish smile to vanish along with it. She suddenly became very aware of his frame ensnaring hers, recalling the position all too easily: 7th Heaven, on the way to Junon, and very vaguely back in…

"Uhh…" a touch of rose blossomed across her face as she shifted uncomfortably.

"Oh," Reno hastily removed his arms from around the girl and stood up straight, "sorry."

"No prob," she lifted herself up from the grass and brushed herself off, laughing nervously. The ninja walked ahead with her arms pinned straight to her sides and grimaced.

_Cute blush… _she mocked herself at the burning in her cheeks that was fading way too slowly.

* * *

"Shera!" Cid yelled for the hundredth time today, "How's that tea comin' along?"

"Almost done, honey!" she called sweetly from the other room, making Cid's eyebrow twitch in annoyance. He thought they had agreed no pet names.

"None of that 'honey' stuff, ya hear?" he stated gruffly as he continued welding.

"Just sugar then?" she sounded a bit confused.

"No! No 'honey', 'sugar', 'sweet'. Nothing!" he shouted to make his point known. She always did this, completely aware that he hated it but… Cid smirked at where his thoughts were wandering: she always made up for it.

"Since when do you like your tea black?" she questioned from the kitchen as the kettle began to whistle. The man's expression flattened as he comprehended the meaning of the so-called 'terms of endearment'.

"That's not what I meant!" he gritted his teeth together at the misunderstanding, "I was t-"

Cid snapped his head up to a knock on the door that cut him off and rolled his cigarette through his teeth. Visitors were pretty uncommon.

"Wait one second, babe. I'll be right there," Shera called from the other room.

Well there was no mistake about that nickname.

"Nah, I got it," he set down his wrench before pulling off his heavy leather gloves and pushing his goggles back through his hair.

"You sure?" her voice quieted an octave as she heard the familiar clomp of his boots on the wooden stairs.

"Yeah," he rolled his eyes at how doting she could be. Believe it or not, the 'perfect wife' complex had ups and downs. Another hard knock sounded on the door.

"Alright," he growled and reached to turn the knob. As he swung the door open, Cid couldn't help but grin at the unexpected sight he was met with.

It was a familiar face, grinning wickedly to complement the devilish ash orbs that accompanied. Yuffie Kisaragi. Her face seemed challenging as she stood with her legs crossed and hands lazily folded behind her head. She'd grown over the past year, reaching just below his nose and seemed to be aware of that also.

"Well well," he leaned back, folding his arms over his chest and snickered at his comrade, "if it isn't the brat?"

"You're still calling me a brat?" she balled her fists and stomped with a pout. She hadn't seen the pilot for a year now and he couldn't let go of the stupid name.

The Turk raised an eyebrow at the blonde who, judging from his memory, hadn't changed much albeit the small amount of gray that now peppered his stubble. The word 'brat' rolling off his tongue sounded weird and foreign. Reno couldn't remember the last time he'd called her that.

"Can you guess why?" Cid assessed the girl who hadn't ceased her childish ways from the last he'd seen her.

"Doesn't make a difference to me, Gramps," she rebuked sourly.

He narrowed his eyes at the girl and growled deep within his throat until he heard a voice chime happily from behind him.

"Oh," Cid turned to see his wife with a tray that held two tea cups, smiling warmly at their unexpected guests, "it's been a long time, Yuffie."

Yuffie smiled back to the woman as she furrowed her honey eyebrows behind her glasses and pointed a finger to the Turk.

"And you're…" Shera looked up thoughtfully and hummed curiously, earning a sigh from the redhead. He wasn't entirely sure if they had even met before. Yuffie elbowed his side in a motherly manner as if to chide him against being rude enough to interrupt, never dropping her beam.

"Ah! You must be Reno, right?" she declared.

The Turk drew back, not bothering to mask his confusion. As far as he could remember, he'd never seen this woman before, "Yes?"

The ninja took her hands from behind her head and stared at her curiously, looking over to see Cid was mirroring her actions. She was a little surprised at how he seemed indifferent to the redhead's presence in addition to Shera's questionably extensive knowledge.

"I knew it," she smiled again.

"How?" Reno and Cid asked in unison.

"Tifa of course," she answered as it might be the most obvious thing in the world. The redhead narrowed his eyes. Tifa gossiped? And about him?

"I see…"

"So," Shera looked down at the tray, flustered, "I guess I should make some more tea, huh?"

* * *

Yuffie set her cup down and smiled at Shera, her eyes shining with genuine gratitude.

"Thanks. This is great!" she chirped.

"Oh it's no problem."

"So," the pilot interjected, putting down his cup to Yuffie's relief. She was convinced that she wouldn't be able to hold in her jibes any longer. Cid… drinking tea? It didn't really suit him.

"Mhm?" she shifted her gaze toward the blonde.

"What have you been up to?"

"Well," she lifted a finger to her mouth and cocked her head to the side, "pretty much just the usual. Being awesome and whatever."

Reno shook his head and smiled at how listless and blasé her voice was, no shame for the egotism that shone through. But it wasn't like he could talk.

"Hmph, well I see you haven't changed a bit," he stated gruffly, earning a grin from the young ninja, "That mean you're still working for WRO with Valentine?"

"I still do some stuff for WRO every now and then but nothing like Deepground. Being a hero's harder than it looks," she recalled the past year she and Vincent had encountered all of those events. It was tiring as hell and for that, she ended up empathizing with Cloud and Tifa for all they went through.

"So why are you traveling with Reno?" Shera piped in. Cid nodded, as if to signal that he was wondering the same thing.

"Are you together?" she asked with what looked like a hopeful smile.

The redhead sat back and grinned at the shocked expression that masked Cid's face, the cigarette hanging out of his mouth. He almost snickered at Yuffie, her cheeks glowing a brighter red than before as she knitted her eyebrows together. The ninja caught Reno's cocky laugh and cut her eyes as she looked over to him, taking too much pleasure in this. His eyes told her that he would enjoy seeing how she would explain herself.

"N-no!" she shouted, Cid following in succession with a "Hell no!"

"I'm sorry, I just figured…" Shera trailed off.

Yuffie smacked her face with her palm and let it rest there until her flush died down as Cid sat back in his chair and cooled off.

"Don't worry about it. It happens all the time," Reno assured with a mocking tone directed to the girl.

Yuffie gave an uptight laugh and pinched him under the table in response, beaming through gritted teeth grudgingly, "Not really."

"But what about Kahlina?" he looked over to her with fake innocence. The ninja punched him in the leg and drowned out his grunt with another laugh dripping with creepy cheerfulness. Reno decided to stop for two reasons: his legs were starting to ache from Yuffie's concealed barrage and Cid looked beyond ready to rip his head off.

"So what's been going on with you guys?" the girl attempted to change the subject.

Shera just shrugged, indicating nothing special but the blonde thought different.

"Just put the finishing touches on the airship," he smiled adoringly. Yuffie swore he had too much love for his machines, "She's a beaut."

"Ah, really?" Reno leaned forward. The ninja was puzzled at the clear absorption he showed.

"Yep. Just installed a new navigation system and twin rotor attachments. The engine room's runnin' nice and smooth," he rolled his cigarette in between his teeth and looked up, exuding pride.

"You mind showing me?" the Turk let his chin rest on his hand.

Cid grinned at his fellow aircraft connoisseur, "Alright, c'mon."

Yuffie could only let a 'huh?' escape as she observed Reno follow the blonde out of the room. She never knew of his interest for The Shera. But then again… he knew his way around helicopters.

"So Yuffie," the woman pulled her attention back.

"Yeah?"

"Are you sure…" she paused, making the ninja quirk an eyebrow, "there's nothing between you and Reno?"

The girl blushed again, getting frustrated that her reaction was the same every time someone asked about her and the Turk. Waving her hands in front of her face, she insisted, "Of course not! We're just friends!" Yuffie stopped and looked up for a moment. Yeah, it was pretty safe to say they were friends now.

"Why do you say that?" she inquired. Regardless of how she felt about it, Reno was right. It was a common mistake for them to be seen as a couple.

"I guess I just have an eye for those things, you know?" Shera smiled cutely which made Yuffie start to believe she was even more deceptively innocent than her. Cid's boldness must have rubbed off on her in some way.

"Well, that's not us," she laughed nervously.

"I see," she seemed a bit disappointed, "Then, why _are _you traveling with him?"

"I kinda have to. He's my bodyguard," the girl revealed.

"Oh! Well it's good that you two get along then."

"I guess so," Yuffie couldn't help but sense her underlying disregard for the fact that she denied they were together. Or maybe she was just being paranoid. Shera's smile was becoming ever craftier in her eyes.

"So how long have you be-"

"We're not together!" Yuffie blurted. The woman laughed at her irritation, frankly upsetting the ninja even more. She was only going to ask how long they'd been traveling and to where.

"Then why do you keep mentioning it?" she raised her eyebrows in interest. This was almost as good as Tifa's gossip.

"I…" the girl blew her bangs out of her face and crossed her arms, "I'm not!"

"But you just-"

"Oh forget it Shera! I'm gonna check on the airship," Yuffie huffed and stormed out of the room.

_Stupid Shera! Screwing with my mind… She kept mentioning it, not me! Stupid, dumb…_

The girl was so absorbed in her mental rant, eyes on the ground, that she didn't notice the lanky figure that blocked the doorframe leading to the backyard.

"Yo, Yuffie!"

The voice pulled her from her thoughts and she snapped her head up just a second too late, crashing into the person that halted her path.

"Wha-" she stumbled backward but the fall never came as she felt an arm wrap around her waist and pull her closer to the being. The ninja looked up to see the person holding her was Reno and cursed herself as her cheeks felt hot again. This just wasn't going to stop today was it?

"You sick or something?" Reno pressed the back of his hand to her forehead, earning only a stunned blink, "You feel feverish."

_Well holding me so close isn't helping, Turkey!_

"No, I'm fine," she tried to will him into letting go with her eyes because the heat wasn't going to subside until he did so. But he didn't.

"Sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," she whispered.

"Well," he leaned in even closer to the point where their noses almost brushed. It didn't help Yuffie's case that his arm was still coiled around her, "I got good news!"

The girl averted her eyes from his uncharacteristically blissful grin and tried to hide her face with the concern that it would be permanently red, "What?"

"We're not paying to get to Wutai!" he sung, holding her closer than she thought possible.

"Uhh Reno?"

"Mhm?" he hummed happily.

"You're crushing me," she smiled a little. It didn't really hurt but anything would have been acceptable to get her out of this intimate position that strangely didn't seem to affect him at all. Earlier today, he got kind of embarrassed if she would dare say so. He complied and released his grip on her, causing Yuffie to exhale in relief.

"Yeah, Cid's giving us a lift to Wutai," he smiled.

"Really? That's great!" she beamed.

"I know," the ninja found their roles to be reversed, Reno being the more childish one as he laughed and grabbed her hand, "Let's get going."

"Now?"

"Course. Glad we left early now, huh?"

Yuffie couldn't help but smile back at his goofy grin as he pulled her out the door. For some reason, she really was kind of glad they left early.

* * *

**Shera was too nice in the game for my taste so I gave her a bit of a dark side :}**

**Hm. This chapter seemed choppy to me even though it was long. I guess I'll try to fix that in the future.**

**In the meantime, sustain my need for reviews?**


	14. The Final Stretch

**Disclaimer- Nothing pertaining to FFVII is my own of course.**

**(A/N) Yay! Two chapters in one day to make up for my slacking. If I still have any readers that is...**

**I know that I may have overdone Reno's talents in this chapter and even though I'm in love with bishi Reno as well as the original, I feel that they kind of dumbed him down a bit. In my opinion, you would have to know what you're doing to be the pilot of a helicopter. So for that reason, yes, I gave him a little bit more of an extensive knowledge here. Well extensive as _my _education goes. Which isn't that impressive... Oh well.**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

"Whoa!" Yuffie raised a single hand to shield her eyes from the fierce wind whipping her and Reno's hair around, the other still occupied by his grip.

The Shera was ever magnificent. Polished silver coated the shell of the ship, clearly maintained and cared for. It seemed the woman in the bikini or as Yuffie would put it in simple yet vulgar terms, 'whore' was still present on the main deck. Multiple rotors, pipes, blades were all working at top speed to contribute to the dissonance that made it difficult to hear yourself think.

"Hey!" The ninja snapped her head back down to the voice that was somewhat drowned out by the roar of the airship to meet the, frankly, pissed off stare of Cid waiting at the base of the machine. The glare wasn't directed toward Yuffie, rather the Turk next to her. However, Reno seemed as puzzled as she was with the irritation.

"Get your hands off her!" he seethed. Reno obeyed and pulled back from her but Cid didn't miss the slight smirk on his face. The pilot approached the two, putting off Yuffie's confused expression as she shifted her gaze between the men.

"What?" she could literally feel the one-sided tension radiating from the blonde as he made no attempt to hide his dissatisfied stare.

"You hear me, kid?" Cid muttered through clenched teeth. He didn't want anyone to touch the ninja for the fact that she was so young. Though he'd never admit it, she'd become the daughter he never wanted in some sorts.

Reno's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. He was going to let it go until the term 'kid' made itself known. But since he didn't want to get Yuffie all riled up, he decided against hostility and retaliated in another way.

"Yes sir!" he chanted in a militia tone, erecting himself and stiffly saluting the man with an entirely straight face. The girl grimaced, catching on to what he was doing. With Cid? Of all people?

"You bein' a smartass?" he growled as opposed to the belligerent shout Yuffie expected.

"No sir!" Reno recited.

Yuffie pushed the two men apart when she saw Cid's gloved hands curl into fists, stepping in between with her biggest eyes to diffuse the tension, "We don't want to be late do we?" she smiled.

The pilot simply scowled and turned to march back to the airship, Reno casually following until he felt a tug on his jacket. He faced the clearly displeased girl, arms crossed and usual pout gracing her features.

"What?"

"Why can't you get along with any of my friends?" she sounded so childish, it was almost cute.

"I get along with your friends," he raised an eyebrow to the question.

"Bullshit," she rolled her eyes, all the potential cuteness vanishing.

"How do you figure?" his tone was cynical as he recalled his courteousness with Tifa, Priscilla, and Kahlina.

Yuffie uncrossed her arms and began to stroll to the aircraft, thinking back and suddenly noticing a pattern in Reno's behavior.

"Why is it that you can't get along with my _male _friends?" she asked, revising the question.

The Turk shoved his hands in his pockets as he followed her up the long metal ramp hinged to the flying machine. He didn't really have an answer to that. She did have a point but he, oddly, couldn't think of an explanation, fake or not. Despite this, Yuffie seemed more than ready for an answer as the only sound penetrating the muffled rotor was their footsteps.

"I dunno," he finally answered as they set foot on the lower floor of the airship, hair falling flat and clothes remaining still. She puckered her lips and looked down thoughtfully, letting a plausible silence pass as the redhead's expression turned more curious.

"Oh, I got it," she smiled.

"Hm?"

"You're just weird," she shrugged. Reno's expression flattened at her gesture for him to follow her as she turned to ascend another flight of stairs, wondering if she realized how hypocritical that was.

He followed her anyway.

* * *

When the automatic door to the cockpit slid open in front of Reno, he was presented with the simple sight of Cid tinkering with some of the controls and Yuffie crouching to watch him intently with her arms folded around her legs. The man took a few steps further into the room, the pilot acknowledging him with an indirect grunt, and causing the ninja to look up to him and smile. The redhead nodded his head to Cid with a questioning look to which Yuffie met with a shrug.

Reno sauntered over to the two, the film of the pilot's all surrounding smoke flooding his senses and making him crave the small amount of nicotine he saved. He only had one cigarette left at this point due to poor rationing. Most of them burned up the day Yuffie decided to take her short term vow of silence.

The girl pulled him down to the ground by the hand, taking a final peek at Cid's work before turning her head to him with possibly the most confused expression he'd seen. She pointed to the wiring he was fiddling with and mouthed 'What?' Reno just grinned at her and shook his head, making the ninja cross her arms in frustration. It seemed that both of them were excluding her from something.

"Cid," he broke the silence.

"What?" he barked, clearly annoyed with the mechanism.

"Have you tried rewiring the series circuit to compound parallel? The voltage flow should overcome the resistors and it won't short that way," he analyzed the metal carefully, oblivious to Yuffie's awestruck stare. He really did know a lot about aircrafts.

Cid rolled his eyes disbelievingly but decided to try it to humor him. All three of them narrowed their eyes as the pilot ran his hands along the metal, pulling and pressing what the redhead requested. Cid's stare was void of faith, Yuffie's was full of anticipation, and Reno's was cavalier as he was wholly expecting this to work.

The ninja looked back to her bodyguard as she caught his grin while Cid pulled back from the circuit box.

"What? What happened?" she shifted her stare between his cocky smile and the pilot's surprised expression.

"Well goddamn!" Cid laughed as he heard an approving click, "It worked."

Yuffie cocked her head, trying to find any visible differences among the wires to no avail. She was quickly spiraling into a sulk, unknowing to what either of the men were talking about when it came to the airship.

"You're a better mechanic than I gave you credit for," the blonde ran two fingers down either side of his face and joined them at his chin.

"Thank you," he showed his gratitude politely for Yuffie's sake but it seems she was focused on something else entirely as she mumbled to herself.

"You ever think about bein' an engineer?" he asked in seriousness. In his view, his talents were wasted as a Turk.

Reno paused for a moment, trying to picture himself with a normal job. No danger or corruption or… He looked over to the ninja whose attention was plastered on the circuit board as she whined… bodyguard missions.

"Nah, that's not really my thing," he answered truthfully. It was weird to think of himself not being a Turk. A foreign idea that seemed unlikely and almost out of realistic possibility.

"Well you know the drill, brat," Cid nodded to Yuffie, causing her to sigh and lift herself up with a great reluctance.

"Yeah, yeah. I know," she grumbled, blowing the bangs out of her face as she let her arms hang limp at her sides to ensure they both knew of her unamusement.

"Drill?" Reno questioned.

"First time on the airship, she was so airsick that she hurled in the cabin. I ain't lettin' that happen again," the blonde took the helm and began to prepare for takeoff.

"Ah," he waved off the fact that his explanation didn't quite answer the question and turned to ask the ninja for confirmation but she was gone.

"Alright. Let's get her in the air," Cid smiled as Reno stared out the window to see a figure in white exit the house. Shera. The woman still had her cup of tea in hand and waved upward, seemingly aware that Cid would have given them a ride anyway. The redhead gave a small wave back, unsure if she could see him clearly as he felt the floor rumble beneath him and give a small burst of fuel to lift itself off the ground.

"Listen to that engine purr!" the pilot grinned widely, taking pride in his invention.

Reno chuckled at his verve for the machine but was quietly thankful as he felt the aircraft make a smooth ascent and witnessed the figure in white become more and more distant. As Cid steered the ship toward their destination and put power behind the path ahead, the Turk saw his view change from the humble house to the grassy plains that defined Gaia. It finally began to feel like they were getting somewhere.

"I told you she's a beaut, ain't she?"

The pilot's voice pulled him out of his trance and brought a question back to the front of his mind.

"She's beautiful," he assured in a complimintary tone, "but… where's Yuffie?"

"Engine room," Cid answered without hesitation. There was no doubt that she was there.

Reno turned and approached the door that automatically opened for him.

"Hey, Reno," the blonde called after him.

"Yeah?"

"You lay a finger on her… and I'll cut it off," he spouted the threat in a ridiculously casual voice, "Get my drift?"

"Yes sir," Reno grinned.

* * *

"This sucks…" Yuffie groaned, tracing mindless doodles along the cold floor with her finger. She stared at the semi-concealed gears of the engine, churning back and forth with eyes that were tactful and lost in reverie all the same. It wasn't even so much being confined to the engine room that was the worst. The girl felt a familiar feeling creep up her back. It was the fact that she was trapped down here, alone, with nothing to do and no way to get back on the ground. And on top of that, her little vacation was coming to an end. If she knew Cid, which she was positive she did, they'd be in Wutai by tomorrow morning. And that was a fact she didn't even want to think about but it wasn't like she could put it off any longer.

"What sucks?" a low inquisitive voice disrupted Yuffie's train of thought to her pleasure.

"Why is it that you always manage to sneak up on me?" she smiled as she met the Reno's aquamarine gaze.

"Well, we already established that I'm the only one who can keep up with you," he unfolded his arms and walked over to lean on the wall she sat against, "Not to mention, I thought you could use a sexy redhead to keep you company," he smirked at her.

"Psh, like you didn't come down here to spend time with this adorable ninja," she turned her nose up and haughtily laid her hand on her chest before breaking the façade with a laugh.

"Yeah, that's it," he shook his head and sank to the ground beside her.

"So why did you come down?" she questioned.

He just looked ahead and shrugged, "Just came to check on you."

"Well I'm glad you did. It gets boring down here really quick," she brought her knees to her chest and sighed.

"This 'drill' doesn't seem all that bad," he looked around the tidy, if a little dull, engine room, "but why are you here anyway?"

"Well about a year ago, I got sick and-"

"Yeah, I know that but why does the engine room solve anything?" he raised an eyebrow, truly curious to the reason.

"Ah yeah," the girl allowed her chin to rest in her palm and fixed her eyes on the churning gears, "I guess it's because of the noise and the rumble that the engine makes. If I close my eyes, I can try to pretend the vibrations are an earthquake, you know? That way, I feel like I'm back on the ground at least. Weird huh?"

"Not really," Yuffie turned to face him with a confused expression as if nobody would ever expect that to make sense, "I can see where you're coming from."

"Cid just sends me down here so I don't get airsick. It's nice to not feel like you're gonna barf 24/7 but the scenery gets a little old."

"That does kinda suck," he sympathized.

The pair remained silent for a while, Yuffie allowing the murmur of the motors to soothe her and Reno trying to figure out exactly how they did so, listening possibly even more intently than her.

"We're really almost there, aren't we?" the ninja broke the silence in a quiet voice that was nearly somber.

"Yeah. If I had to guess, I'd say we'll be there by 10 tomorr-" he cut the statement short as he saw her face was very serious and contemplative, "You alright?"

She nodded with a smile that was the opposite of reassuring, "Just a little nervous…"

"Why? Wutai visits are regular for you."

"Okay, it's creepy that you know that," she looked at him with a jokingly apprehensive face.

"Stalking is Tseng's job so don't blame me," he grinned.

"And…" she trailed off as she twiddled her thumbs together, debating whether or not to reveal what's been on her mind, "that's not entirely true…" For some reason, it was harder to lie to Reno.

The Turk simply quirked an eyebrow at the girl.

"I haven't been to Wutai in… 4 years actually," she gave an anxious laugh.

"What?" he couldn't help but let a little of his surprise bleed into his speech. Tseng told him that she visited Wutai only 3 months ago.

"Crazy stuff huh?"

"You haven't returned for 4 years?" he knitted his eyebrows together.

"Nope," she replied simply.

"Why?" he couldn't really imagine why she saw it fit to erase herself from her country like that.

"Typical princess reasons," she answered a little cryptically. Of course he didn't know _all _of the duties being an heir entailed.

"So you're next in line to rule?"

"Yeah..." she lowered her eyes, his questions bringing back all of the reasons she shouldn't have run away and the deep-rooted regrets of ignoring them.

"And you ran away when you were..."

"15," she finished.

"The only time you went back was when you were with Cloud?" he inquired, letting his questions flow.

"Yep."

"But…where were you all this time people thought you were in Wutai?"

"Kalm. I tell people that I'm going to Wutai so I can't be tracked. I know what kind of technology they have at WRO," she stated.

"As a Turk and your bodyguard, I should probably tell you not to do that," the ninja brandished those puppy dog eyes again that ironically always seemed to mean trouble for him,"… but I guess that's pretty observant. And who would I be to follow the rules?" he shrugged.

"Reno…" she trailed off, not exactly knowing what to say. He didn't only turn a blind eye to her ongoing lie with his line of work but… supported it?

"Everything's gonna work out," he waved off the disbelief in Yuffie's eyes that he thought was directed to the country she'd deserted, "Don't worry."

The girl's ashen orbs widened even further as Reno's words replaced her anxiety for their destination with a newfound nervousness. Yuffie's stomach flipped over and back again as she observed him lay his head back and look ahead again, his whimsical cyan pools becoming more and more… attractive? She started to feel just as queasy as she did in the bridge and fiercely tried to remember all of the trivial boy advice Tifa had given her, treating her almost as another daughter when it came to romance.

"_Most importantly, just go with it…"_

Yuffie pushed all of her thoughts to the back of her head and cupped her hand around his jaw line, bringing her lips to his cheek in a brief kiss. For just a second her mind went blank as her fingers ran down his face but when her eyes fluttered open, she realized her position and abruptly drew back with a burning blush. The ninja plastered herself back against the wall and covered her mouth as she looked ahead to avoid his stare. Her expression could only be described as utterly stunned at her own actions.

Reno's body stiffened as he registered what just happened in those few seconds and was too bewildered to pay attention to the slight embarrassment that now graced his features. He was unable to remember the last time, if at all, somebody kissed him on the cheek and for some odd reason, felt like a teenager again.

"Yuffie?" was all he could utter.

She faced him coyly, her blush clearly intensifying, and never removed her hand from her mouth.

"I'm sorry…" she mumbled.

What happened then might have been the most unsettling silence Yuffie had ever experienced, with her staring into the Turk's eyes and him staring back, intense and ever confused. But it was the silence that allowed her to study every inch of his face, his mouth in particular that had slowly but steadily curled upward into a devilish grin. She raised her eyebrows in the last second of temporary quiet where his smile reached ear to ear and she had to admit that she wasn't expecting this. Reno just laughed at her, forgetting his previous doubt and reveling in the rare moment where the ninja would apologize for something. She wrinkled her nose in dissatisfaction at how he didn't take this seriously. She might have been permanently embarrassed and he was laughing at her!

"Don't laugh!" she cried with a frown that teetered on the edge of defensiveness and bashfulness.

"You don't apologize after you kiss someone," he chuckled.

"Well I wasn't consulted when these rules were made!" she pouted.

Reno laid his hand over hers, still tense against the floor and shot her that crooked smile again, bringing back that feeling of her stomach performing acrobatics. He stared into her demure onyx eyes, surprised at how quickly her emotions flip-flopped and overlapped.

"Like I said, don't worry," he shook his head.

_Just go with it._

"Reno…" she bit her lip in slight fear that he would deny her next request, "can you stay the night with me?" she blushed again at how suggestive the question sounded. It seemed he noticed too as he knitted his eyebrows together at her sheepish face.

"No, it's just that… you know, the scenery gets old and…" she trailed off.

"Yeah, I know," he smiled, putting Yuffie at ease.

She had to hand it to her. Tifa was pretty good at giving advice.

* * *

**Whoo! Finally romance!**

**I hope you like it so far and next chapter is already a work-in-progress.**

**Reviews would be awesome :)**


	15. The Arrival

**Disclaimer- I own nothing, sadly including Reno and Yuffie, from FFVII.**

**(A/N) Good lord! I haven't updated in nearly a month! D: Please believe me when I say I'm SO sorry, especially since I think this chapter doesn't make up for it. It seems poorly written to me but I've been on my trap set non-stop lately trying to make auditions for jazz band. Barely any time to write but now I have a general idea for the upcoming chapters so the wait shouldn't be ridiulously long.**

* * *

This was one of those mornings. A rare morning where, before she even opened her eyes, Yuffie could sense something was off. Something wasn't quite right and despite the abnormality, she would be content either awake or asleep. She remembered this feeling the morning Reno and her began their trip and found it ironic that it crept on her just as they were about to reach their destination. The ninja finally managed to open her eyes after much mental protest but never budged from her position, listening closely to a familiar drone.

She rubbed her eyes and shifted slightly, the sensation of foreign clothing on her skin. She curiously turned to face a sleeping Reno who she, against her knowledge, might have mistaken for comatose. The man was the farthest definition from alert as she observed his head hanging, accompanied by crimson strands that obscured his face though she could hear him breathing lightly. He must have really been worn out. Yuffie's eyes traveled up his shoulder and along his arm that, at some point in time unbeknownst to her, must have draped around her shoulder to keep her close to his frame.

Yuffie wrinkled her nose at the warm sensation she felt for their position, those stupid butterflies attacking the walls of her stomach with their gentle yet maddening assault. The blitz only intensified as she involuntarily remembered their, if a bit one-sided, kiss.

She cut off the dangerous train of thought with another, contemplating if it would be best to wake him up. As she observed his dormant expression, calmer than she had ever seen, she decided against it. He had piggy backed her to Rocket Town after a night of nearly no sleep and she couldn't deny that he probably needed a break. Her assumption was confirmed as his head cocked slightly to the side, inducing a soft groan and the strap on his goggles hanging a few tantalizing inches from Yuffie's grasp. He played with it sometimes, though the reason behind that was unknown. She recalled the childish twirling he exhibited at the campsite and reached up, capturing the rough fabric with her fingers. Wonder why?

All at once, the consistent rumble underneath the girl ceased and her stomach dropped to the ground that most likely wasn't too far below anymore. She looked back to the gears that churned no longer and craved to hear the sound of the engine again. Her nausea reappeared at the realization that they must have landed and that meant…

"What the FUCK is this?" Cid's belligerent shout pulled Yuffie from her daze as her hands instinctively shot toward the floor of the airship, her left reaching its destination and her right tugging on the strap so hard that she felt the vibrations from Reno's head hitting the wall behind them.

"Oh! I- um… I didn't mean to-," she struggled to respond to the pilot before she felt Reno take his arm from around her shoulder and spun around to face the Turk, hissing in pain and rubbing the back of his head with a grimace, "Sorry!" she reached to help him but drew back as she concluded she'd already done enough.

"God dammit, Yuffie…" he rasped, attempting to recover from the awful mix of fatigue and physical pain.

"I'm sor-"

"I told you to keep your goddamn hands off her, didn't I?" Cid stormed to an oblivious Reno and glowered down at him with far too much hatred for comfort. Yuffie scowled and pushed herself up off of the ground to glare at the unnecessarily angry pilot.

"What did he even do, huh?" she glanced back to the Turk who only blinked and tried to adjust to this rude awakening.

"He doesn't need to be t-"

"Touching me," she completed his statement with a sigh, "Right, I've heard it before…"

"Where do you off with that tone, smartass?" he gritted his teeth together at the irritating fact that the young ninja was waving him off without care.

"_I _asked him to stay down here so if you want to yell at anyone, I'm your girl," she crossed her arms at the blonde, an action that only earned a surprised blink from Reno who still catered to his aching head. Cid stared back into her resolute eyes with, as far as he could guess, probably nothing but shock present on his face. She only quirked an eyebrow, waiting for his response but by the time he realized she wanted an answer, he could only shake his head with the inability to scold her for standing up.

"I'm not fighting with you right now…" he turned his back to her and Yuffie found it difficult to suppress the feeling that she had done something wrong as he walked away, briefly thinking about reaching out to him but instead, she drew her hand back and waited, "Get your stuff ready. We're here," he finished before the door slid closed behind the man.

After a short silence, Yuffie let her arms drop to her sides and sighed in regret. He didn't really deserve that. Reno picked himself up, not bothering to straighten out his suit but it wasn't as if he normally did.

The ninja raised her eyebrows at the Turk who simply answered with a shrug, clearly a little confused by her confrontation with the pilot considering he was still half asleep, well within his rights. She was more astounded by the fact that they were finally in Wutai but whether that shock was positive or negative she still couldn't be sure. Either way, her stomach twisted as she slung the backpack over her shoulder and followed him out of the stagnant engine room.

"What was that about?" he asked as they ascended the flight of steps.

"Um…" she trailed close behind him, taking the time to observe the alteration Cid made to the airship, being that she never saw any changes besides to the engine room while they were in the air, "An overreaction?"

Reno didn't bother to ask on whose part the folly was made but rather kept his mouth shut as he stopped in front of the entrance to the bridge, not expecting, as usual, the ninja's next actions. He had to hand it to her. This girl seemed to have a proficient talent of switching her emotions from one to other, on or off at will. This became apparent as soon as the door slid open and the girl caught sight of a sulking Cid, causing her previously cheeky attitude to melt away and reveal a guilty interior. And now she wasn't at his side, but rather attached to the front of the pilot, apologizing in a tone that was juvenile and whiny as she asked for forgiveness like a child asked for the return of a toy. A master of emotional control… Or a ninja with a conscience.

"C'mon, Gramps! I said I'm sorry!" she hugged him with an iron grip, prepared to beg until he accepted her apology.

"Get the hell offa me, brat!" he shouted and tried to push her away unsuccessfully.

"Never!" she cried melodramatically and clung to his jacket.

"I'm gonna hurt ya, kid!"

"I don't care. Accept my apology!"

"No."

"Yes!"

"No!"

"YES!

"Yes."

"No!"

"Alright. No it is…" Cid drawled and in the girl's stupefied silence, he broke free from her grip and reached into his pocket. Yuffie still sat in awe that he had fooled her with one of the oldest tricks in the book and suddenly felt extremely dim as well as frustrated at that fact. Cid absentmindedly pulled the lighter from his pocket and held it to the fresh cigarette hanging from his lips but just as he was about to ignite the small flame, he felt the cylinder disappear from his mouth. He turned to cut his eyes at the obvious culprit as she snickered and waved the cigarette in front of his face with a confident grin.

"Brat…" his voice was low and threatening, "You do not fuck with a man's nicotine…"

"Accept my apology then," she beamed at him as she held both ends of the cancer stick firmly and bent it just enough to flare the pilot's temper.

"I swear to fucking god, kid," he was glaring daggers at her but it did nothing to break the girl's smile. He'd guessed years of anger directed toward the queen of instigation had finally caused some sort of tolerance to build up.

"Please," she cocked her head with those big, dark eyes that gave the illusion she was about to cry.

_Ha, bitch!_

He'd developed an immunity to her weapon as well, learning his lesson about the third time or so she feigned tears to gain his favor against Tifa to buy her a dog. Somehow, he'd ended up with the blame and she never achieved the puppy so they both lost and he was still bitter for being dragged into it. Therefore, the eyes weren't all that effective, but threatening to break his cigarette was sure as hell holding him back from saying no again. The prospect of uttering the word 'yes' for it back was becoming more and more appealing by the second.

He heaved a deep sigh and scratched the back of his head before cutting his eyes at her and finally saying "Fine…"

"Woo-hoo!" the ninja sprang up in her little victory dance, uncaring to the fact that Cid snatched the cigarette from her hands and lit it up.

"And it ain't cause of yer damn puppy dog eyes," he grumbled through the comforting smoke.

"Pssh, you know you love them," she bent down and smiled at his frustrated features that never seemed to age, ironically considering she used to refer to him as a 'cranky-legged old man' and even now upheld some nicknames to the same effect.

"Yeah yeah. Just get goin' already…" he waved her off to which she met, to his dismay, a pat on the head.

She bounded back to the Turk's side before turning and inquiring, "See you soon right?"

"Maybe."

"Good enough for me," she grinned and waved at him alongside Reno who simply nodded to him in a farewell significantly less wordy than anyone could hope from Yuffie, "Bye, Gramps."

Cid waved back as she spun around and set her sights on the ramp he'd already lowered for them. Daughter he'd never wanted…

* * *

It had been a while since Reno last visited Wutai, in fact, exactly as long as Yuffie. Even then, tourism was a bit pushed aside due to the reason that his last sojourn consisted of retrieving an obnoxiously incapable Elena so right now was generally the only moment he recalled taking opportunity to observe the completely foreign atmosphere of this completely foreign place. Surprisingly smaller than he anticipated, the province was probably one of a kind for the simple fact that it was self-governed though he expected that any other country must have found it difficult to dominate the sole existence on an isolated island. Despite the quaint size, Reno found the silence surrounding the embellished crimson gates to exude authority.

He shifted his gaze to the girl beside him who was mirroring his previous actions, sizing up her hometown as if she'd never been here before and ultimately decided against pushing her. He shoved his hands in his pockets and patiently relaxed into a nonchalant slouch all too common for his character. Reno kept his eyes on the girl as she whipped back around and stared at the sky that served as the source for a deafening roar, indicating that the airship was taking off.

"There goes our ride," she flashed him a smile that wasn't all that reassuring as her short locks flew in the direction of artificial wind. The girl looked down, shuffling her feet against the verdant grass that surrounded them, mumbled something incomprehensible and looked back up again before blowing the bangs out of her face. She gave a short hum and took a few hesitant steps forward until she was face to face with the enormous gates, still guarded by the twin dragon pedastals, their golden coats tarnished from time.

Reno perked up to the voice that came from beyond the border, low and speaking in a foreign tongue seemingly directed toward them. He raised his eyebrows to Yuffie, who didn't meet his stare but rather kept her gaze fixed on the gate as she declared something back in Wutaiian. Soft, yet collectively overpowering whispers sounded from beyond the gate but Reno was only able to make out 'Kisaragi', 'now', and 'gates' as far as language not associated with the girl's native tongue went. He just watched as she heaved a deep sigh, surveying the gates that began to open slowly to reveal the prying eyes of a handful of Wutaiian residents who seemed baffled at her very being.

"It's true…" one of the women whispered.

A long silence passed before an elderly man in front of the few bowed down at the girl's feet, earning a startled gasp as she drew back to observe him, "Lady Yuffie! You have returned!" he rasped. At his outburst, the growing crowd began to rumble with relieved sighs and terms of praise.

"Please get up!" she bent down to pick the frail man from his knees with a flustered expression. This was one of the two reactions she was worried about being treated with: undeserved honor, the other being contempt. In consideration to Wutai's contradictory nature of traditional and innovative between the elderly and the youth, she was unfortunately expecting to be graced with both. The older members of the village respected the monarchy they upheld and swore loyalty to the royal family. However, the younger citizens didn't feel the same obligation, and with sound reason, probably hated her for leaving without warning.

Reno furrowed his eyebrows at Yuffie's crestfallen gratitude to the man whom she was shaking hands with, attracting even more of the adults in the community. They circled her with a dissonance of unnecessarily formal address and respectful bows, seemingly unaware of his obvious company.

"Your ladyship!" two figures declared to make their presence known. The crowd gasped and parted to make a path for the two women who wore more extravagant clothing than the commoners that surrounded Yuffie. Their faces were stern and they were reserved in their general mannerism almost as if their strict movement restrained the artistic dresses they donned in spite of themselves. One's hair was exceptionally long, half of it pulled up into a bun and decorated with charms while the other's was all pulled back from her sharp features. Reno deduced that they must have been aristocrats, perhaps even associated with Godo himself. The former was the first to speak.

"Please forgive our rudeness mi'lady," she bowed.

"But you must come with us," the other finished her sentence robotically, following suit with another bow. In unison, they held their hands out to Yuffie who pondered the best course of action before holding up her hand falteringly. Before they could accept the gesture, Reno interjected and took her hand instead, bringing it down by her side which earned a wide-eyed look from the ninja.

"Where are you taking her?" he asked in a voice that was more demanding than inquisitive.

The women pulled back from him with insulted expressions, "Such insolence!" the longer-haired one exclaimed.

"How dare you touch her Excellency," the other cut her eyes at him, causing a half-amused half-annoyed smirk to appear on his face. He never imagined her to be held in such a high regard even if mostly through lineage, "Who are you?" she sneered.

"Her escort," he replied, the action of showing them his badge occurring to him but quickly slipping away as it probably wouldn't affect their loyalty to 'her Excellency'. They looked to Yuffie briefly for reassurance and were met with a nod.

"Our apologies," they mumbled grudgingly.

"Lady Yuffie has been requested a meeting with Lord Godo," the woman with the bun explained, "We are taking her for necessary preparation."

"Preparation?" he questioned the uncomfortably vague term.

"She must be clothed traditionally before speaking with the Lord," the other woman clarified.

"I understand," Yuffie spoke up.

"Thank you mi'lady."

"Yuffie…" Reno couldn't help but be a bit skeptical of the robotic women, who were already cutting their eyes at him for the lack of formalities that weren't needed to her name.

"It's okay," she grinned back to him, "Just meet me back at my house in…" the girl cocked her head toward the two assistants.

"3 hours," the woman in the bun finished, causing Yuffie's smile to drop. 3 hours of poking, prodding, and if today was her unlucky day, make-up.

"3 hours," she echoed with a groan.

"Your house? You didn't live with your father?"

The ninja shook her head, "I live in the last pagoda on the right if you follow the outermost path. You can't miss it."

"We must make haste Lady Yuffie," the long-haired woman reminded gently.

"I'll see you then?" she asked, putting off the assistant for just a moment.

"Yeah."

At the answer, Yuffie looked back to the two, telling them something in Wutaiian that earned a bow from both. The ninja stepped forward, letting her hand slip through Reno's grasp and bringing the fact that he had still been holding her hand against his knowledge to mind. She turned back to smile and wave to him briefly, which he answered with a nod that allowed her to follow the women with confidence. With that, the surrounding crowd began to disperse with blissful whispers amongst the people that soon fell to silence, leaving Reno with nothing but his thoughts as she disappeared from his sight. The redhead glanced down to his hand with a tactful gaze.

He didn't understand why it suddenly felt bare.

* * *

**I might revise this chapter if you guys think it's as bad as I think it is.**

**Let me know with reviews and I promise to try harder to post more chapters in less crazy time gaps.**


	16. The Kimono

**Disclaimer- Of course I own nothing from FFVII. Way to rub it in -_-**

**(A/N) Almost another entire month... You guys must hate me lol**

**So anyway, here's chapter 16. It's pretty long if that makes up for anything and I forgot to mention it in the last chapter but the inspiration for my... err portayal of Wutai's atmosphere was the original version of The Path Of Wind- Joe Hisaishi. Don't get me wrong, it will always belong to Ghibli and will always be Totoro's theme but it fits Wutai rather well, no? Also, the basis for the boy in this chapter is under Wutai in the Final Fantasy Wikia as the picture of the 'Wutai civilian'. Uncreativity on my part? Yes. Will I make up for it? Hopefully.**

**On with the story!**

* * *

"Are you sure this is necessary?" Yuffie stared up to the vaguely familiar pagoda she recalled from her childhood. The only hazy memories the building brought back were complaints and temper tantrums. A younger ninja wasn't fond, still not exactly eager but less of an obnoxious child, of being dressed up like the dolls she often destroyed. She'd dreaded this building, where the women would tug on her hair and poke her with pins as they stuffed her into multicolored yukatas, insisting that the uncomfortable wooden stilts they tried to pass off as footwear were needed.

"Yes. Our apologies," one of the women answered her, though she couldn't make out which it was as her gaze was still fixed upon the pagoda and their voices were too similar to discern from one another.

"I see," she said as she opened the door to reveal the spring green walls she loathed as a child. Now, they seemed a bit easy on the eyes but that was probably because she wasn't associating them with the forceful primping that accompanied. Five women waited within, all with their stares pasted to the carpet as the bowed to her.

"Your Highness," the woman in the front addressed her.

"Please call me Yuffie," the ninja laughed nervously at the royal treatment, supposedly her 'payback' for running away. She was just waiting for Leviathan to strike her down with the pending karma she was sure to receive eventually.

The main stylist, donning a divine floral houmongi, raised her head to reveal her beautiful features. She was fairly young, no more than a decade older than Yuffie by the sight of her face. Though, she couldn't be entirely sure as she _was _a stylist and had a presumably extensive knowledge of creating youthful illusions. She was unusually nice however. The girl never remembered having anything but strict old women to keep her in place while she was dolled up but, considering her crude behavior, that could have been arranged to traumatize her into conducting herself with more class. That principle failed of course.

"We shall be back to escort you in 3 hours mi'lady," a pair of voices sounded from behind her, the door shutting before she could turn around to respond.

"Please," the woman in front gestured to the tatami centered in the room, halfway encased by changing shades decorated with detailed cranes and clouds. Yuffie obeyed, unlacing her shoes and leaving them at the doorway before the other women circled her in the center of the room and began to disrobe her silently.

"Um… shouldn't I be doing this?" she managed to speak as the stylists surrounded her with steadfast faces and deft hands that swept over her clothing so quickly that she hardly believed they were removing it until her skin progressively unveiled itself. Soon enough, she was bare of anything but her intimates and the hands trying to conceal her near nudity.

"We will take care of everything mi'lady," the main woman reassured with a smile as she plucked various charms from the table of a vanity.

"Uh," Yuffie tried to take in all of the women's actions at once as two lifted her arms while another wrapped a thin, white garment that reached from her chest to her knees around her and the last pinned both ends of the cloth together so she was dressed in a makeshift robe lacking sleeves, "if you say so?"

The eldest woman kneeled in front of Yuffie to tuck a chunk of her bangs behind her ear and secure it with a hair pin in the design of a plumeria.

"What are your names?" she asked the women that were now scattered all over the room. The main stylist gestured to them with a wave of the hand that caused them to halt their current task and line up in front of her.

The first looked to be the youngest; Yuffie's age or even younger, perhaps an apprentice. She had a dolly face with jade eyes and dark brown hair pinned up to one side that allowed the remainder to cascade over a simple clip, "I am Eri," she smiled widely.

The next woman emanated a cold aura, slender and tall with lighter hair that was pin straight on either side of her face and cloudy eyes much like her own, save their intensity. Her kimono was dark and sharp to match her austere expression, "Rin."

Another stylist lifted her head to rather timidly meet Yuffie's gaze. She had soft pale features with inky black hair, tied into an ornate bun like most of the traditional women in Wutai were encouraged to as well as frosty blue eyes entirely uncommon for their heritage, "Jun," she bowed her head with a voice quiet and nearly undecipherable.

The next looked closest to mannerisms and age to the main stylist with a reserved appearance including an up-do and makeup. Yuffie could never tell if there was an abundance of care put into the simple-looking enhancements or the opposite for the fondness of natural looking women here. "Hana," she introduced.

Lastly, the stylist that seemed to be the oldest and most respected approached in the center of the line. Her robes were more formal and decorative of the others to dignify her position and she was the only one to have her hair halfway down and unrestricted, "and I am Minori. It is an honor Lady Yuffie."

"Eri," she lifted her head to call the girl without averting her gaze, causing the girl to perk up curiously, "I'll entrust you with selecting the Lady's kimono."

All of the women, save Minori and Hana who opted to put off the surprise, gasped at the statement as if it was out of the question.

"Me?" Eri pointed to herself with more confusion than shock.

"But ma'am!" Rin objected only to be waved off with a stern look from Minori.

She looked back to the young ninja and waved a hand at the youngest stylist, "Lady Yuffie, if you would please follow Eri."

Yuffie glanced at the facial expressions that varied down the line, ranging from spite to indifference to surprise to curiosity, "Um… sure."

Eri turned and pushed the noren from their sight to reveal a sea of colors that stretched on for miles as they stepped into a room filled with royal robes.

"Which type of kimono would you wish mi'lady?" the young stylist glanced back to her as she led her through the rows of clothing that hung from hangers that seemed to stretch on for miles.

"Type?" Yuffie inquired as she subconsciously followed the girl with her eyes plastered on the plethora of dresses she never thought she would see again. They ranged in color, design, and size; the ninja caught sight of some kimonos for little girls though she couldn't imagine why.

"You can choose from a houmongi and a furisode."

"Um," the girl paused with a slight regret that she never paid attention to the differences, "furisode…"

"Which color and pattern are you looking for?" she asked.

"Surprise me," Yuffie grinned at the girl who beamed back and scurried off into the mass of clothing, finding it odd that she was so eager to serve.

With that, she trailed behind the most colorful yukata of the bunch only left to ponder why it was such a big deal who escorted her and why she really needed an escort at all. The train of thought led her to another as she briefly let her mind pause upon the subject.

_I wonder what Reno's doing._

* * *

Wutai really was a place of harsh contrast. The historical regality of the Da-Chao, the traditional native language, women walking around in kimonos, all of the paper lanterns and pagodas. They couldn't be more contradictory to the souvenir stands, bars, and Wutaiian residents that had adopted a more Western influence in the way they dressed, spoke, and conducted themselves. A new generation had chosen the lifestyle of the city over their hometown. Globalization at its finest could be seen as an improvement and spread of culture but only at the cost of abandoning another.

"Sir?"

Reno was pulled from his thoughts at the voice and snapped his attention to the origin below, "Hm?"

He was met with the sight of a young boy around 10 if he had to guess. He wore a long sleeved shirt that was white and met either side with a fabric loop fitted around buttons that extended all the way up to his neck. His pants were loose and long, going so far as to cover the majority of his grey shoes that pointed at the tips. Around his neck hung a small, forest green satchel pinned closed by what appeared to be the face of a dragon. The boy had dark sepia hair that resembled Yuffie's save the femininity of the slight flip at the ends of her locks and the bangs she'd made a habit out of blowing from her sight. His eyes were a deep brown and held the usual innocence of a ten-year-old.

"You're Lady Yuffie's bodyguard, right?" he questioned.

Reno put his hands in his pockets and took a moment to study the boy, "Yes."

A smile brightened up the boys face as he dug through his satchel and eventually emerged with one glowing orb and a couple of commonplace potions, "Would you like to buy some items? You know, for your journey!" he beamed at him with sparkling eyes that had become nothing but the norm over the past week.

The redhead pulled the lining from his pockets out to show him the absence of the gil he sought, "Sorry kid. I'm broke."

"I see," his expression dropped to reveal an aloof attitude in stark contradiction to the previous hope. His face read apathy as he leaned on the building behind him and sunk to the ground, returning the items to his satchel.

"You're…" the boy let his scrutinizing eyes wander over Reno before furrowing his eyebrows and facing him again, "… a Turk."

His skepticism earned a quirk of the eyebrow and a short, contemplative silence before he uttered another "Yes."

"I'm glad you're Lady Yuffie's escort then," he stated.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you seem nice enough but" the boy picked himself up and dusted himself off before meeting the redhead's incredulous stare, "if you hadn't been her bodyguard, you probably would have been attacked," he shrugged indifferently.

"Why is that?" Reno inquired calmly.

"My people hate Shinra and the Turks for what happened during the Wutai Wars. We recovered financially," he gestured to their surroundings, "but when it came to giving up the habits of a tourist town, we never really got back to our roots. I think… maybe that's why Lady Yuffie left."

Reno leaned against the wall and listened patiently to the surprising insight of this child. For the boy to know about the socionomics behind the Wutai Wars…

"But I still don't know if she left in search of a way to restore Wutai's glory… or if, maybe, she just got tired of living here," his smile seemed a bit dispirited.

"What's your name?" he asked before the boy continued.

"Hotaru."

"Ah well," the corner of his mouth curled into a small grin as he held his palm out to the boy, "you seem to know a bit Hotaru. You mind telling me more about the Wars?"

"Yeah," he grinned and met the Turk in a handshake, "What's your name, sir?"

"Reno."

* * *

"Wow."

Yuffie had never liked the regality of the appearance that she had to maintain as a princess. In a more simple concept, she'd never really liked the kimonos she was forced to wear because she was a downright tomboy and no matter how you looked at it, mobility was severely cut short in the extravagant apparel. But this one… made her believe, if only for a minute, dresses weren't so evil.

"You like it, mi'lady?" Eri held the gown up with hope in her eyes.

"Yeah," she was surprised at her own words, "I kinda do."

"I'm glad to hear that, mi'lady," she beamed.

"Please just call me Yuffie," the ninja laughed nervously.

"Yuffie…" the girl stumbled on the word like a newborn, struggling to disregard the formalities the stylists had probably forced her to respect, "Okay then."

Eri folded the silk between her fingers and scampered behind her, circling her waist with a thin, cream fabric that Yuffie raised her eyebrows at until she remembered that Wutai tended to layer their royalty.

"Excuse me for asking," Eri began, "but what's it like outside of Wutai?"

The ninja looked down thoughtfully as she paused on the broad question. What was it like? Was she referring to the cities or the countryside? The people? The airships, buggies, and boats? There was really so much to explain that it was nearly impossible to sum up but maybe that's what she wanted to hear.

"It's really… big," she finally spoke with an answer so vague that she assumed the girl was insulted. Instead, the responding voice was thickened with a smile.

"That's what I figured," she began draping the cloth over her shoulders.

"You've… never been outside the walls," Yuffie concluded with no more curiosity present in her voice.

Eri shook her head and continued to fold the kimono all around the ninja, pinning and tucking where necessary, "I never had much of a choice."

The girl only quirked an eyebrow in response and was met with a small smile, "Minori's very traditional you see?" she gestured to the kimono she was fiddling with around Yuffie's shoulders, "and she can be quite cold when she's angry but I suppose that's the role of a-"

"Master?"

"Mother."

"Minori's," Yuffie paused and searched Eri's face to find any physical resemblance to no avail, "your mother?"

"Not by blood, but yes."

So she must have been adopted. Not that Yuffie was that surprised as there were many orphans in Wutai. It was a sad fact but true nonetheless.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to your real parents?"

The girl stopped tugging on the dress and tucked a loose strand of chestnut hair behind her ear, "I don't remember much of them. I was young when they passed but Minori told me… that they died during the Wars."

Yuffie couldn't avert her eyes from her lap as she listened to the heavy words. She'd heard this story from too many children to count but that didn't make the constant death any less potent of a tragedy.

"… I'm sorry."

"Like I said, I don't remember them well so it isn't quite as sad for me. But my indifference makes it kind of sad, or at least that's what I think anyway," she pressed on with the bright kimono, almost as if to absorb her disappointment in the ornate fabric.

"So how did you come to live with Minori?" she changed the subject successfully as a smile broke through her previously stoic face.

"Well it happened sometime after the Wars. The time in between was really a blur of survival instead of life," she paused a moment as if to contemplate her next words, "I'd become a pickpocket to feed myself, it was necessary. But the day I tried to steal from Minori… let's just say she's more formidable than she looks," she laughed.

Yuffie just sat silently and didn't bother to remind her of the nearly but not quite complete kimono she'd been previously working on.

"At first she cast me away and told me to never try something stupid like that again but she found enough pity to give me a small handful of gil anyway. I still remember how tall she seemed to stand, beautiful and intrepid, and in that moment, I wanted to be like her. To this day, I'm not sure what I was thinking but I begged her to train me as an apprentice. She refused and went on her way but I lived in the alleys she passed on her daily commute," she stopped and smiled as she shook her head in reverie, "so I asked her every day for 3 weeks to take me under her wing. She broke down whether it be by annoyance or guilt and finally agreed to teach me if I was willing to help her upkeep the new shop she had inherited."

"New?" the ninja glanced around the extravagant room of a stylist for the royal family.

Eri nodded, "This was 10 years ago mi'l- Yuffie. We became the royal stylists after you had left."

"I see."

"I never expected that she was a stylist, actually I was expecting a martial artist, but I learned from her anyway. And though I never expected it, I love what I do," she gave a final tug to the obi and shifted around to Yuffie's backside to observe the limited possibilities of what she could do with her short hair, "that's why I want to go to Edge to learn more and meet new people… kind of like your strange friend."

"Strange friend?" the girl questioned as she felt Eri's fingers fumble through her short locks. This is exactly why she cut it at the age of 7. She'd hated the tight hairstyles and the old women jerking at her hair so she'd avoided it the only way she knew how: with scissors. As for why it was short now, she'd become to accustomed to the lack of her previous, lower-back brushing mane.

"The one with the red hair?" Yuffie turned around to see the stylist tugging at a strand from her up-do with a curious expression.

"Crap!" the ninja whipped around to the clock that now read 4:17 and back to the startled girl, "Reno."

"Who?" she cocked her head.

"Red hair. I promised to meet him at 4."

"Oh," she took a breath of relief, "then we'll have to skip the makeup."

The ninja paused to put her statement into perspective, "I can go?"

Eri nodded with a warm smile to which Yuffie was a little confused, "Won't you get in trouble?"

"Well yes but helping the princess is a far greater honor, I think," she admitted as if it couldn't be any more obvious, "or maybe this is _my _way of rebelling."

"You're sure it's okay?"

The stylist sprung to her feet and gave her a small push toward the right, "The back door is down this hall and the second door on your left."

"But-"

"You're already late!" she pushed her along a little more.

Yuffie obeyed and lifted the trail her kimono left behind up to her knees and took a few hesitantly swift steps before turning back with a guilty smile, "Thanks."

The stylist only responded with a beam as her client set off to find the strange redhead.

* * *

_Damn!_

Yuffie hiked the kimono up a little higher as she increased her speed to maintain the pace she kept around the corner of another pagoda. It was strange, remembering every nook and cranny of the village after four years of a completely different environment. Must have been subconscious…

A burst of light interrupted her thoughts as she halted, having navigated through the streets shadowed by the tall structures. Taking a moment to catch her breath, she squinted through the sunlight among a sea of people she wasn't surprised to see take curiosity of how odd she must appear right now. She cupped her hands around her mouth and took a deep breath before hollering something she knew he would recognize if it was heard.

"Turkey!" the name carried out until she let her arms fall to her sides.

… No response.

"Ugh!" she heaved a deep sigh and picked up the trail of her robes again and thought of how she took advantage of her conveniently mobile-friendly shorts. She brought her hands just above her brow to block the sunlight and squinted to pinpoint any bright mess of hair among the sea of black locks… No luck.

She quickly fell back into step, rushing through the crowd as conspicuous as can be and following the road that led to her house. She was suddenly thankful that she'd decided against wearing the geta and opted to take the simple woven sandals instead as her feet continually made contact with the roughly paved streets underneath. Yuffie was taken from her trivial train of thought as she halted in front of her distinctive home and took no time to observe any possible changes before sliding the door open in front of her.

Her expression flattened at the sight she was met with though she couldn't decide if she was a bit vexed at the indifference or relieved at the presence of the nonchalant figure laying on the tatami, arms crossed behind his head, shoe tapping on the floor and lazy eyes scanning the ceiling only to be interrupted by her rightful intrusion.

"You're late…" the pair of turquoise eyes remained fixed in place as a smirk erupted on his face, "I st-" whatever statement that was stalled on his tongue vanished and the grin faded as he turned his head to meet the girl's gaze.

He damned her ability to silence him with whatever new clothing she managed to get her hands on but he realized this was a bit different from her scandalous shorts or the swimsuit that was appealing in more ways than one. She donned evergreen robes, low cut around the shoulders that flowed into sleeves that almost touched the ends of the dress itself. The images of water lilies danced on the emerald silk accompanied by the small stitching of a hummingbird near the shoulder and her waist was concealed by a thick decorative cloth that tied neatly behind her. The short yet apparently annoying bangs were pulled back by a floral clip from her dark eyes, a pair that was staring at him curiously.

"Yeah?" she cocked her head at him.

He sat up with too much difficulty to wipe the dumfounded expression from his face as he continued to stare, "… You look…" he stumbled upon the words and tried to focus on the term he was searching for instead of the apparent confusion on her face. At this point, he wouldn't have been surprised if he was unknowingly mirroring the action.

_Beautiful._

Reno furrowed his eyebrows together as he reluctantly realized that was the word that he intended to speak. Despite the mental grasp, it wouldn't slip, confined to the back of his suddenly timid tongue.

"… nice," he finished with a mental cuss at the sight of the dying color in her cheeks.

"Thanks," she smiled and sat down across from him, "so did you take a look around?"

"Not really. I had a conversation with a pretty insightful kid though."

She cocked her head in curiosity to which Reno answered with, "Name was Hotaru."

"Hotaru?" she perked up, "Yuri's cousin…" she trailed off with a thoughtful gaze until her volume returned to normal again and she looked him back in the eye, "That's my best friend's cousin."

Reno suddenly connected his relation to Yuffie as to why he seemed to take her absence to heart, "He was wondering why you left."

Yuffie's stare dropped to the floor that was now blanketed in the expanse of the kimono that bled around her, "Could you remind me to say goodbye to him personally when we leave?" she asked.

"Yeah, no problem."

"That reminds me…" she looked up to scan his face briefly, "what will you do when we get back to Edge?"

"Hm," he paused despite the fact that he already had an answer. Where did that question come from? "Probably the usual. You?"

"Well, I was thinking… maybe I should stop jumping around so much," she shrugged in the slightest as if she was trying to make light of something.

"What do you mean?" he analyzed her body language with scrutinizing eyes.

"You know, settle down in one place. Kalm's a nice town," she let her chin rest in her palm and contemplated the possibility.

"What?" Reno furrowed his eyebrows together, unusually bothered by the prospect, "Why?"

"That way," she thought of Hotaru and the members of AVALANCHE, "when someone needs me, they'll know where I am."

"They found you before, didn't they?" the redhead found himself vehemently against the idea of the ninja's isolation.

"I'm almost 20 now. I never thought it would catch up with me this quickly but I should start being more reliable right?"

"Shouldn't you do what's best for you?" he could see in her eyes that she wanted this for others.

"But what about th-"

"Forget about everyone else for a second. What do _you _want?" he asked in a serious tone that silenced her as she stared, shocked, back at him.

"I…" she couldn't free herself from the grip of his aquamarine gaze, "I want…"

She wasn't sure who'd begun the advance but Reno's face and her own were close. Too close to be considered casual. But that didn't stop him, who now took the initiative and leaned in even closer to the point where he swore he could taste her, feel her lips on his. And it didn't help Yuffie's case that her heart was pounding in her chest but she ventured to lean even closer with all hesitation in her throat as she closed her eyes the moment their noses brushed. The rest of the world froze as Reno brought his hand to her chin and began to close the final hair of a gap between their mouths.

"Lady Yuffie!" a loud knock on the door resonated through the room and forced the two apart with a gasp on Yuffie's part and mutual blush as if they had been caught doing something wrong.

The ninja took a moment to learn how to breathe again before responding with a "Yes?"

"Lord Godo wishes to meet with you now," the voices she recognized as the two escorts called back to her.

The girl huffed in a mix of exasperation and disappointment before turning to Reno who had his face in his palm as he shook his head.

"Okay, I'm coming," she responded with flat eyes and picked herself up from the ground to straighten the kimono. A chuckle from below interrupted her perturbed thoughts toward the women.

"So I'll see you later?" Reno grinned at her as if to combat the irony of the situation with his own.

"Yeah, I guess so," she held the nape of her neck with a nervous giggle.

"Well then," he stood with that defining crooked smile and took Yuffie's hand in his own, "good luck, Lady Yuffie." he kissed the top of her hand, earning wide eyes from the girl.

"Lady Yuffie, we must hurry!" she heard internally cursed the voices but nonetheless acknowledged them.

"Just behave while I'm gone," she laughed at the mischief he revealed and turned to meet the escorts outside before they sent her temper skyrocketing.

"Hey," he folded his arms over his chest with a smile, "shouldn't I be the one telling a certain stubborn ninja the same thing?"

Yuffie simply met him with another giggle and wave before sliding the door open to reveal the women who were about to knock again.

"I'm ready."

* * *

**Yes I pulled the 'almost kiss' trope. I apologize but it seemed to fit there too well.**

**I went a little crazy with the OC's this chapter but they were my last ones for the story so I wanted to have fun with them. And if you're wondering, Yuri wasn't an OC. He was a minor character in On The Way To A Smile-The Case Of Yuffie.**

**Once again guys, thank you so much for the reviews. It helps to keep me going, especially during the final stages of a long fic like this one :)**

**Must. Post. New. Chapters. Faster.**


	17. The Proposal

**Disclaimer- Of course, I own nothing from FFVII or its spin-offs etc.**

**(A/N)- You ever had a writer's block so bad that you forgot where you were going with the entire story? Yeah, I definitely had that... for 5 weeks. ****In order to help clear the block, at one point, I went back and re-read the first couple of chapters and sheesh... I don't mean to be egotistical but I think my writing was worse then than it is now. **I'm so sorry this update took long but now that it's summer, I should be able to post them more frequently provided I don't have a writer's block as terrible as this last one.

* * *

If there was any pointless fact that Reno had learned on this little trip, it was that every bar was the same regardless of location. The same dusky, disconcerted atmosphere hung around the dim lights and uninhibited people that didn't bother to put on a happy face for the fellow drinkers who couldn't care less anyway. It suited everyone of an apathetic nature just fine: a place where people stopped pretending, sat down, and either took a moment to try and find or bury a part of themselves at the bottom of the bottle. For a person like Reno, not nearly a bowl of sunshine, but not self-loathing either, these places were getting old and this mood was tiresome.

Reno took another swig of the beer and set it down without letting go of the sepia stained glass. He wasn't trying to bury himself but rather drank to speed up the clock that he swore he could hear ticking the moment she set off for her meeting with Godo, who was clearly being treated as an emperor before a father. It was odd that during the only moment he had in solitude, she was still in the back of his mind but he dismissed it as an instinct bodyguards developed considering their job circled around one person's constant presence and safety. It had nothing to do with her lips.

"Did you hear?" Reno heard a more distinct discussion rise above the other trivial chatter but did not turn to meet the source.

"Hm?"

"Our fallen princess has returned," the man relayed, causing the redhead to raise an eyebrow at the statement.

"Heh," the other scoffed, "Bullshit."

"Maybe. Maybe not."

"No way she'd come back after 4 years. Too good for us, don't you know?" the man replied snidely.

"Maybe she felt like being pampered again. Only Wutai treats her like a princess, Leviathan knows why…"

"Cause the elders won't let go of tradition. They respect the royal family no matter what. That's why this country's in the sorry shape it's in."

The other man snickered, irritating Reno much more than he thought it would, "Maybe we should move to Edge."

"Yeah, maybe. Better than this…"

The Turk dug in his pockets and placed an unspecified amount of gil on the table more harshly than he intended. His previous thought of loyalty from the citizens of Wutai had been more than disproven. He pushed himself up from the chair and abandoned the half-consumed beer without a second thought as he pushed the doors of the bar open to reveal the steely sky from which the sun had just set.

Why has he been so defensive lately? Damn.

* * *

Yuffie had nearly forgotten that she came here for a purpose, even if it wasn't entirely planned or exactly… voluntary. But that temporary lapse of memory didn't last long. It couldn't possibly when the former princess was placed in front of the grandest pagoda in Wutai: the home of her father and the lord of this nation. She would admit that this sense of impending doom would feel strange if she actually hadn't felt it a thousand times over and then some.

"This way please mi'lady," a pair of disturbingly twin voices brought Yuffie back to reality. It took a second of prolonged gazing at the pagoda until she could actually respond.

"…Yes," she paid no mind to their guiding hands or the overly formal title she told them not to address her by. No matter how long she'd been away, she would always remember her way through Wutai. So she followed the virtual map in her mind and abandoned the two aristocrats, whom she still wasn't sure even had such personal ties to Godo.

_Follow your feet._ Yuffie obeyed her own thoughts and kept her eyes pasted on the ground as they ascended the shallow steps. _Follow your feet. _Over the hardwood floors. _Follow your feet. _Through the endless sea of ornate carpeting. _Follow your feet. _Until they stop at the sliding door that lead to her reason for traveling with the plague of a bodyguard, Reno of the Turks this past week. She swallowed and looked up with a lingering hesitance.

Why she was hesitant, she couldn't tell. Of all the guilt due to her absence, she'd never found any of it attributed to her father. Figuratively speaking, he was the one who'd abandoned all of their traditions except for his power and turned Wutai into a tourist attraction. And she'd be damned to ever be afraid of him. So the knot in her stomach was a bit of a mystery.

Still…

Yuffie placed a hand on the unnecessarily decorative door and tried her damndest to see through the thick papyrus that dimmed the light shining through the other side and fought back the urge to groan when she obviously couldn't. Godo's voice was ringing in her head as her palm began to slide over the images of cranes and she hated the parental tone it held.

_Yuffie, stand up straight… Speak slowly… Put your shoes back on… Don't argue. Yuffie…_

The girl cut her eyes and snapped the door open in front of her to meet the sight of a figure resting on the lavish throne, engraved in golden scales far from lackluster. Paper lanterns hung from the ceiling in clusters of frosty colors despite the fact that most of the other rooms features were warm in what seemed to be purposeful opposition. The figure on the chair released a slightly raspy baritone voice that sat in Yuffie's ears and threatened to set something off in her brain. It hadn't changed from the second she left.

"Yuffie," the ninja traced the line that the voice cut through the air and back to the figure in the chair. Not only his voice, his amaranthine clothes appeared untouched by time albeit a few minor embellishments but Yuffie couldn't tell if his robes had been slightly modified or if it was her memory that faltered over 4 years. Simple violet robes over an even simpler lilac samue contrasted quite strongly with his embellished surroundings and for a moment, Yuffie was spiteful that _she _had to get so dressed up.

"Godo," she was surprised to hear how empty her voice was as was he by the look on his face as he approached her. As he drew closer, Yuffie could see his face had grown more tired, beard more heavily peppered with gray and the single white stripe in his hair had intensified its opaque hue. He had aged.

"You've grown," he laid a hand on her shoulder that seemed to burn each long moment he left it there, his features unflinching and voice fairly monotone. Yuffie felt a slow churning fire build up in her stomach as his face allowed a fact to hit her: it had been 4 years and he hadn't changed, granted not for worse but not for better either. His words were still steely and their country was still a mess. Suddenly, with the sight of his disinterest all over again, she didn't feel fully responsible anymore.

"I wish I could say the same," her tone was low and quiet but biting as she stared into his cold eyes with her own smoldering ones and was answered with their narrowing at her offhand snap.

"Seems I was mistaken," he removed his hand from her shoulder and turned around indifferently.

Yuffie gritted her teeth at the nerve he had to be so nonchalant toward the return of his daughter when he knew full well that she was expecting a change within Wutai; one he hadn't delivered almost as if to mock her with the unfulfillment of a one-sided deal. He didn't feel that he owed her.

"What do you want with me?" she kept her voice steady, channeling years of grudge into her balled fists that she now hid behind her back. He simply returned to his throne and descended into it with his chin on his fist and a leg crossed over the other. No response came for a ticking silence until he gestured to the tatami in front of him with a sweep of the hand. Yuffie swallowed and reminded herself to calm down and treat this meeting as if it wasn't with her father.

"Would you like some tea? You seem upset," his words did the exact opposite of comforting Yuffie, convincing her of his arrogance.

"Don't patronize me," her voice rose in the slightest, "Answer my question."

"One would think a young woman would learn some patience and respect after 15 years in the royal family and 4 of independence, don't you agree?" Godo's rise in volume mirrored hers.

"No. I figure this young woman would value emancipation more, don't you agree?" she spit cynically, earning a sharp breath from her father.

"I was hoping that you could have absorbed some wisdom and maturity after the time you've spent traveling."

"I left for my own reasons," her eyebrows furrowed together at his assumption but despite it, her heart rate had calmed and she was ready to ask again, "Why am I here?"

"Alright," he conceded to her stubbornness and blinked to conceal a moment of the disappointment she detected in his eyes that she hated to admit looked just like hers, "you truly wish to know then," Yuffie nodded regardless of the stately tone his sentence gave off rather than one of questioning.

"I realize you have little faith in me, but I'm certain you realize that I'm faithful to your mother even as she waits in the afterlife," Godo's whisper broke his emotionless barrier and Yuffie's cold stare melted at the mention of her mother, "I've never taken a mistress nor do I plan to. It should be obvious that as an aging widower, I will not father anymore children. And with my only child harboring such an intense desire to change Wutai, I entrust my legacy to you."

Yuffie's eyes widened at his implications, "You don't mean…"

Godo's eyes simply deadened in contrast as he nodded, "Yuffie. If you are ready to take this task, I wish for you to inherit my rule and become the Empress of Wutai."

The world around her seemed to freeze as the proposal she thought about but never anticipated reached her ears and proceeded to stop all processes her mind could make. She staggered to her feet and attempted to stutter a word in response but found her throat had closed and her heart was beating too fast for her to form a flimsy sentence anyway. With a final stunned glanced toward her father, a nerve snapped and her first instinct came into action. She turned, slammed the door open and ran as fast as her feet would take her.

* * *

"Damn ninjas…" Reno groaned as he tapped the EMR to his knee, "confusing as hell."

The redhead had tried not to take the truth of his own words too seriously as he fell from his cross-legged position to straight on his back against the tatami and narrowed his eyes at the dull ache in his head from the action. These mats weren't exactly soft but it wouldn't be overly amusing if Reno was in the bed without anyone accompanying him so he skipped it. And every time he imagined someone in between the sheets with him, it was the dysfunctional princess brat for Ifrit knows what reason… which brought him back to his original thought: ninjas were confusing as hell.

That idiotic giggle and the image of that oddly appealing blush kept looping through his mind and annoying was a serious understatement for the repetition. Yet among the chaotic reasons why running through his head, he stuck with the bodyguard explanation. Why, one may ask? Because when you got down to it, it was the most reasonable and the least dangerous. Not dangerous as in the feeling he'd underestimated her when she started sprinting away from him, swiped materia from the shops they came across, or drew her shuriken against the monsters they encountered. No, he meant dangerous as in that chill that shot up his spine when he'd seen her in that bikini, when she blushed if he touched her, or when their lips were millimeters from touching.

Reno heaved a deep sigh and rocked slightly on his back. He didn't know in which way he should see her as a threat. Physically, emotionally, sexually, or maybe even a combination. Still, if one thing was certain, it was that his mind would keep looping her laugh until he decided.

He quirked an eyebrow at a loud, hollow clacking sound that interrupted him and turned his head to meet the sight of a pair of sandals, "Huh?" he looked up, his chest experiencing a deep pang of ache at what he saw.

Yuffie was panting, her hair tousled and pasted through dampness to a few areas on her cheeks where Reno saw the light shine off of no matter how much she was presently trying to dry it with her oversized sleeves. Her eyes were squeezed shut and small sobs wracked her body which must have already been lacking air which explained the occasional hiccup that escaped her trembling lips. One-handedly, she held up the bottom of her kimono that was now caked over with mud.

"I-I'm sorry," she gasped through the short bursts of oxygen she managed to grasp, "I'm sorry," Yuffie turned and took a step away from the door before Reno shot up and grabbed her hand.

"Yuffie!" his outburst was saturated in worry as he observed the girl try to learn how to breathe again, "What happened? Why are you apologizing?"

She only sniffled and tried to wipe the steady stream away with her soaked kimono sleeve, making Reno shut the door behind her and bring her down to the floor in a messy heap of awkwardly intertwined limbs and overly ornate clothing. He must have sat there with the hysterical girl in his unsure arms for hours, listening to her very slowly decreasing sobs as the material to absorb her tears shifted from her sleeve to his jacket and wondering if he could offer enough solace until her cries slowed enough for her to be coherent.

"Yuffie…" his whisper was hesitant and quiet among the still present sniffles. She didn't raise her head when she heard him however, "what happened?"

She wiped away the last of her tears and closed her tired eyes before speaking with a voice that was a bit hoarse, "Godo. He…" Reno waited patiently as Yuffie began to regain all of her senses, "The meeting was just a question."

"What was the question?" his eyebrows knitted together.

Yuffie didn't want to answer in fear that Reno might let go and his warmth would be gone. She wasn't planning to leave his lap any time soon, "He asked me to become Empress."

Reno's aquamarine eyes widened unbeknownst to Yuffie whom had her eyes shut and head down on his shoulder. A slow, painful panic began to twist in his stomach as he thought about it but what scared him most wasn't the fate of the country but rather the stupid, irrelevant, completely important in his now flawed view fact that Yuffie was crying over this and that being Empress meant she would be confined here, "What did you say?"

"… I ran."

Reno remained silence in the wake of the hollow girl as she spoke again, "I… can't live here again. Not after what I did," her voice was abnormally broken compared to the usual chirp, "but they need a ruler."

Yuffie stared at her sleeve and thought about it with contemplative stormy eyes that wouldn't look at Reno after her incessant bawling, "What… should I do?" her tone seemed to trail off and drift away from the focus of her bodyguard to herself, talking to both simultaneously. Reno lowered his face into her locks and allowed his selfishness to get the better of him this time.

"Yuffie…" Reno whispered, finally breaking the prolonged silence that had fallen over the two of them. He'd taken enough time to mull what he dared to say over and over in his head and ultimately decided to cut through all the bullshit. It wasn't important for her to know the whats, whys, and hows as long as he just made up his mind and told her the simple statement that was already eating away at him.

"Hm?" she blinked slowly and continued to twiddle with one of his buttons aimlessly, voluntarily being lulled to sleep by the darkness of his jacket.

"Don't stay."

Yuffie's eyes widened and her fingers stopped in unison with her heart.

"What?" she choked out.

"You heard me," he didn't look down to see her face but rather listened closely to her heartbeat for an indication on her true response.

She turned her head to the side and closed her eyes, trying to block out all of these unfamiliar thoughts that raced through her head uncontrollably. The strange part was that she wasn't thinking of her childhood or her people or her family and how they would fare without her. She didn't think of how she would go about ruling her country or what they would do if she left again. All of the vivid illusions were mischievous pairs of aquamarine eyes. And it was a bizarre idea in itself that Yuffie didn't find it odd when she felt a deeply painful pang in her chest at the memories. It killed her to think of giving up that crooked smile.

"Reno…" her tone was broken as she felt another tear trail down her cheek, coming to a realization, "I…"

"I know," he knew exactly what she was about to say but figured it better if she didn't. There really was no need to declare what they both knew already.

"Me too."

* * *

**Godo's characterization is awful considering he didn't have that bad of a relatonship with Yuffie during the game but it was a little important to the plot here. Yeah, I'm not too sure how solid this chapter is after the period where my brain went completely void of creativity but it's better than nothing. I'll be posting more chapters sooner but god... this fic is coming to an end soon :(**

**Review if you feel I'm still worthy at this point lol**


	18. The Truth

**Disclaimer- I'm certain I've mentioned that I own nothing from the FFVII franchise.**

**(A/N)- Well, this chapter is just filled with soap opera material so I'm pretty sure that both the princess brat and the cynical Turk are OOC. It started off strong but I was really toiling over how to end it so please tell me what you think of it and I'll most likely revise it.**

* * *

Reno's listless gaze followed the trail of drifting smoke as he savored one of his final breaths of tantalizing poison. He let the hand that held his cigarette over the polished wooden rail while the other raked through his crimson hair before stopping near the base of his ponytail, closing his eyes and listening to the occasional chirp of a bird. They flocked around the vivid flowers surrounding the koi pond that served as a view from Yuffie's garden, a luxury one wouldn't really expect her to have.

Bringing the cigarette back to his mouth, he lingered on that thought. Yuffie had a penchant for being unexpected it seemed. His first impression of an innocent teenager was quickly replaced by a bratty kleptomaniac, evolving to an image of obnoxious sex appeal and soon into someone he felt obliged to protect even if it was a bit beyond what his job demanded. Now she turns around and spends the night in his arms, clutching at his jacket and sobbing until she falls unconscious in the role of a torn princess. He didn't know what to feel about her.

So as morning arrived, he turned to his last bit of nicotine to escape the confusion, leaving her with the ghost of his presence and the navy jacket she wouldn't pry her hands from once he was convinced she wouldn't wake up. He couldn't be sure if she was up now, however. A shrill ringtone invaded the serene silence that surrounded him for the first time in over a week, coaxing a sigh from the redhead as he pulled the PHS from his pocket, reading the icon that read 'Tseng' and hesitantly deciding not to neglect it. With a flip of the device, he brought it to his ear and exhaled a cloud of smoke.

"Yeah?" his voice was lazy and exhausted. He hadn't slept all night due to Yuffie whom seemed to be the main reason for most of his restless nights lately one way or another.

"Reno," the calm tone over the line greeted.

"If this is about the helicopter, I'm terribly sorry," Reno's words unintentionally held sarcasm and fatigue.

"I appreciate your apology. It's still coming out of your paycheck."

"Yeah, yeah," he waved the bluff off with indifference.

"I trust that Lady Yuffie is alive and well?" Tseng asked.

"Well she _is_ alive but well is a bit of a stretch," Reno lowered his head into the intersection of his crossed arms and sighed at the reappearance of the honorifics.

"Fair enough. Is she upset about something?" Reno found it strange of a typical person yet oddly befitting of Tseng to ask a concerning question in such a collected tone.

"You could say that," he turned his back to the rail and leaned his elbows on the juncture where it met the other half of itself and attempted to peer through the paper shoji but caught no glimpses of shadows through it. Given the material was thick but that was most likely for privacy.

"Do you know why?" Tseng questioned.

"Godo wants her to become Empress…" he sighed another cloud of smoke into the previously clean air with deadened eyes. He didn't want to think of the possibility.

There was a brief silence before Tseng spoke again, "She's upset over this?"

Reno recalled her sobs, still feeling her fists clench around his clothing, "Very…"

"So I take it that she hasn't made her choice," the redhead quirked an eyebrow at a trace of something he couldn't detect in his superior's voice.

"You seem a little unfazed Tseng," he commented offhandedly to ensure his temper wasn't set off, making him look like a fool before he was sure of anything.

"Do I?"

"You do. Tseng…" Reno's eyebrows furrowed together as he tried to overanalyze his voice, something Tseng was dangerously good at evening at will, "you didn't happen to know about this beforehand did you?"

A long silence passed, causing skepticism to appear on Reno's face as he awaited the answer. Finally, Tseng's words broke through the silence of the zen garden where the birds had even stopped chirping in anticipation, "I did."

"What!" Reno's outburst snapped from his lips before his smoldering eyes even had the time to widen.

In contrast, Tseng's voice was annoyingly cool as he responded, "Why do you sound so shocked. You brought the matter up."

"Why didn't you tell me about this before?" the redhead shouted over the line, stubbing the cigarette and flicking it away.

"Reno I thought you were sharper than this," Tseng replied with carefully masked condescendence and waited for a strained silence during which he couldn't see Reno ball his fists as the rage inside him built considerably, "I didn't want you to interfere."

Whatever bundle of nerves in the back of Reno's mind that kept him from losing it at the loss of sleep and echoes of Yuffie's sobs snapped at that instant, "I'm her bodyguard," he bit back with venom, "I have the right to interfere, goddammit!"

Tseng expectantly sighed over the phone, irritating the redhead to an even farther extent, "Your duty as a bodyguard is to ensure her safety. Not influence her decisions."

Even if Reno had influenced her decision, it was for the better right? "So what if I did? What if she didn't want this anyway?" he ran a hand through his hair and tried not to let Tseng's understated accusation get to him, glancing over his shoulder to see no sign of Yuffie stirring behind the door.

"You don't understand that this isn't a matter of enjoying her position, it's an unspoken obligation," he could hear his superior's tone flatten and become even more severe.

"Why do _you _care so damn much Tseng!" Reno gritted his teeth at the cavalier statements he'd thrown at him.

"I want to see the best for my country and I believe that Lady Yuffie could deliver that change over time," he explained calmly and logically, "However, seeing as it doesn't affect you, I'm curious as to why you're the one who cares so much Reno."

The Turk paused in his aggression to try and process that. He… just didn't want to see her hurt, "… Nobody should have to go through this! Why should she be forced to take over if Godo wasn't assassinated?" he retorted.

"The assassination scare was a fabrication."

The redhead's pools of cyan lit ablaze at the statement and he found himself unable to hold back from shouting, "You fucking liar!"

Tseng ignored the foul language that he was unfortunately far too accustomed to hearing from Reno though he hadn't recalled him directing the swears at him with such hostility in the past, "It was the only lie and it was necessary to persuade Lady Yuffie to visit Wutai once again."

"Why couldn't you just wait until she went on her next trip there?" Reno played along with Tseng's presumed knowledge and asked a question that may have been extremely applicable if the situation was as Yuffie had masked it to appear as.

Tseng sighed at his comrade's patronization, "Rufus and I had a bit of trouble tracking her at first but we're not fools. It became obvious once she made it a regular habit to go to Kalm in place of Wutai instead of hopping place to place like she'd done before," he pinched the bridge of his nose as he cleared the clouded facts between them and realized how much of a bother the Lady could be in the process. She had indeed made this setup difficult, in fact cornering them to resort to lies when they could have established her visit to Wutai in a cleaner manner.

The elder Turk listened closely for any sound from Reno, hearing none and feeling the slightest bit regretful that their distance didn't allow Tseng to analyze the redhead's thoughts through body language. What he didn't see was Reno's personal definition of shameful as he clutched to the rail and swallowed whatever was on the tip of his tongue, defeated and unknowingly playing the role of a pawn. The man on the other end of the line decided to break the silence with a question that sounded more mocking than intended, "Will you let me know of her decision when she makes up her mind?"

Reno's fingernails dug into the wood and his eyebrows knitted together in a defensive manner, "Fuck you Tseng!" he flipped the phone closed and shoved it back into his pocket before the rage left him in exchange of thought, laying his forehead in his palms in a fragile silence one could easily slice.

_Your duty as a bodyguard is to ensure her safety. Not influence her decisions._

The ghost of a voice rang in his head and remained there. Was he really interfering that much? Perhaps Reno's intentions weren't that pure as he hadn't given much consideration to how good of a ruler she might be. For all he knew, she could have been just what this country needs but…

_I'm curious as to why you're the one who cares so much Reno._

Fuck! He shouldn't have cared so much! But he did… and it was tearing him up.

Reno tried to eliminate the thoughts and spun around to slide the door open. Regardless of how involved he was, Yuffie at least needed to realize the truth before she made a decision. When the paper passed under his palm, he had expected to have to go wake the young ninja from her nearly comatose slumber. But instead, she sat where he'd left her yet fully awake with his navy jacket spread over her lap, it's darkness contrasting with a pastel yellow fan she held in her hands.

"Good morning," she whispered without tearing her gaze from the sunny paper and polished wood.

_Shit…_

Reno scratched the back of his head and fought back the burst of heat that shot up his spine as if he'd been caught doing something wrong, "You're awake," he stated dumbly, "Did you…"

"Yeah, I heard," she wiped her eyes with the base of her palms, setting off a strange pang in Reno's chest, "Leviathan I'm crying a lot lately, huh?" her laugh was shaky as she beamed at him to offset the sniffles.

He kneeled down to her level and stared at her tearful smile with pensive eyes, "God Yuffs…" his stare smoldered against her more startled ones and he knew it was because of the name but he wasn't about to take it back, "I'm sorry."

"I thought apologies were a one-time thing, Turkey," she said with a shallow breath and a fleeting smile, "Anyway, it's not you…"

Yuffie waited for him to say something but he remained silent and focused on her so she took the opportunity and continued, "It sucks you know? The lies and stuff but I'm starting to think I needed to be lied to. I thought about it…" she glimpsed back down to the pastel fan, the last memento of her mother that she owned, "and I've made my decision."

"Wait," Reno trailed off and hesitated while he searched for words. Any words to cut off what he thought she was about to say, "you don't…"

Yuffie looked up to him with weakness in her usual stormy eyes that had now calmed down to a dull fog reading defeat, "I have to stay."

That hurt. That hurt _really _bad, her resolve knotting in his stomach and stabbing him there. For a moment, he found himself ensnared in her emotional chokehold, the cyclone that spun in the opposite direction he did and in the end… her direction was stronger and he fell victim to it.

"Yuffie please," he begged, "I'm sucking up all my pride right now and I feel like a coward but I've never been good at these things."

Yuffie looked up to the desperate redhead in shock. In response, Reno tried to compose himself and stared back into her eyes, his turquoise stare incredibly serious.

"Come back with me," the words seemed to crumble as they left his mouth. God, he felt too vulnerable for his own good.

"Reno…" she trailed off, choked up with guilt at his request. She gazed back at him with tears in her eyes, making it hard to sharpen his features in her vision and blurring the outline of the fan as she looked back down though she felt a single droplet fall onto her hand. She twisted her head to the side, ashamed to meet his stare and bit her lip to subdue the sob rising in her throat. She never recalled breathing ever being so difficult.

"Don't make this any harder for me," another tear rolled down into her lap and she refused to open her eyes. She felt like a monster.

Reno felt his stomach drop to the soles of his feet and his blood halt, frozen in a silence so long, his knees began to ache. The Turk forced all of his rejections to the forefront of his mind and the past week he spent with this girl who was driving him mad with emotions he had either attempted to bury over the years or didn't even know existed. He tried to decipher what went wrong as he analyzed all the connections and separations between the two. He'd made his deal of mistakes throughout life, more than he could count, but never had he wanted to fix one this badly. Reno finally swallowed with much difficulty as he came to discover that… she wasn't going to change her mind.

With painful resistance, he rose to his feet and turned his back to her so neither of them would be able to see each other's broken expressions, only hearing a defeated sob escape the girl as he slid the door open.

"Good luck, Lady Yuffie…" he shut the decorative screen behind him and after a moment, the ninja finally lost what little composure she had and broke down, crying harder than she thought possible.

* * *

**Yeah this chapter makes them seem extremely soft and dramatic. I blame it on "that's what love does to people" (yeah, yeah... dily daly, shily shaly) when it's really just me making up excuses for reading too much shoujo manga lately. To tell you the truth, I don't really like the way they appeared so I might even take it down and harden those emotional mental rants. **

**One more chapter and an epilogue, guys! Review, review, review!**


	19. The Decision

**Disclaimer- I have affiliation with the FFVII franchise. Disappointing, I know...**

**(A/N) I feel like I'm gonna cry! This is the unofficial end to this fic at 19 chapters (geez!) and though it was tedious, I haven't had more fun with any other story I've written and might I add, more positive feedback from readers which I'm incredibly grateful for. I'll save all the personal thanks and such for the epilogue which will be out in probably another day or two so enjoy!**

* * *

"Hello?" Reno sighed at his superior's voice that had not fazed a millimeter from the last time he called and lost his temper. It was still a fascinating concept to him, why and how he never reacted to any major event. Either Tseng was too prepared and informed or Reno was too opposite of that. It wasn't a thought he wanted to read too much into.

"Tseng," Reno reached into his pocket, fingers longing to brush the edge of a box of precious nicotine and almost mourning when he remembered he smoked his last cigarette a while ago. God, he never thought he'd regret that this much.

"Reno. You've composed yourself?" the monotone man droned over the phone so flatly that Reno couldn't tell if the device had anything to do with the mechanical feedback it seemed to give.

"Well, I'm not calling to pick a fight," the redhead confessed as he took a step past the noren that separated the smaller room from the view of the sunset visible from the side of Yuffie's house. He brushed past the cloth and leaned against the hard material that reinforced the pagoda, watching the warm colors painted across the sky, almost in a fleeting hope that he could find some answers in the spectrum.

"I'll take that," the man accepted Reno's unorthodox peace treaty with a quirk of the eyebrow, "What is it?"

"Can you send a helicopter as soon as possible?" he returned Tseng's monotone with his own, scarily equal for standards of one who made it a frequent hobby to terrorize WRO with his antics out of boredom.

"I suppose so. Should I expect one or two to return?" Tseng's question was answered with a long silence.

"…One," the Turks eyes lowered as he made his voice steely. He'd just handed out his fucking heart, had it crushed and handed back to him. At the very least, he didn't need to sound as weak as he was.

"I see. Do you want me to say that I'm sorry for you?" the biting comment was quiet but in no way timid, holding all the power with less volume.

"Sarcastic pity… That's new," Reno whispered, finding it awfully unfortunate that this request couldn't be put through to Rufus. He was far too disinterested to make any jabs and would rather keep any and every conversation he had quite brief.

"You sound like you need it," Tseng's tone sounded unapologetic but void of malice or harsh intent. Maybe he figured he'd try and get some sort of normal reaction from Reno as he didn't really have the spirit to call him an asshole just yet.

"Just send the helicopter Tseng," the redhead's voice flattened.

"Hm," was his only reply. Reno wondered if he understood that he was growing tired of the games and wanted authority over some matter. He ended the call with a flip of the phone and glanced down to see a sliver of steel jut out from behind the wooden doorframe.

Reno stared at his EMR briefly before picking it up and weighing it in his hand, strangely uncomforted by the cold steel. For once, he wished he hadn't traveled so light because it would have been nice for something to occupy his mind right now. When he was left with nothing but himself and his thoughts, somehow the day didn't ever end on a good note. Now they were even more of a plague on his conscience, saturated in stupid puppy dog eyes, goofy smiles, and even painful sobs. Bare skin and breathy moans. Obnoxious laughs and sarcastic eyes rolls. They never stop repeating, one mirage after another despite Reno trying his damndest not to think of what he wanted but couldn't have.

He remained silent as he slipped his weapon back in its holster and leaned against the wall, running a hand through his hair. It was actually pretty selfish now that he thought about it: keeping her from ruling her country that is. And here he was, contradicting himself again but apparently, that was another side effect of thinking too much. The redhead crossed his arms and sneered at himself. What the hell was he thinking? Years of twisted morals beat into him were slowly coming undone.

0113: Regrets jeopardize the mission.

0285: Never get attached.

0001: Turks always get the job done.

He'd gotten the job done. So why were there regrets? Why was he getting attached? And more importantly, why couldn't he clear his head of her blithe voice?

_Hey, Turkey!_

"Shit…" Reno let his forehead rest in his palm and stared at the floor with hollow eyes.

_Hey, Turkey!_

He resented the ache in his chest every time she echoed his 'name' yet his expression remained steadily unemotional, not showing the slightest contortion from remorse or frustration. But it hurt. It hurt so badly.

_Hey, Turkey!_

Still, his features remained deadpan. After all, Turks had a certain way of perfecting their poker faces.

* * *

God, she didn't want to see Godo's face.

The only thought that didn't concern Reno crossed Yuffie's mind for the first time today as she tried her best to blend in with the crowd around her. The painfully obvious stares and transparently averted glances told her that she failed in that sense. Though after a brief stop in with the stylists to replace her previous kimono, caked with mud and tears, she didn't expect much different. She wasn't fortunate enough for Eri to allow her a choice in clothing. The girl's restrictions after letting the ninja leave early to see Reno had the bitter repercussions of Yuffie's gift of a senior designer due to 'responsibility issues'. In turn, her dress was more traditional and in turn, more floral because she was unmarried. So, yeah, the clothing and her title didn't exactly direct any stares away from her. The gazes weren't quite friendly either.

Yuffie's eyes lowered as she walked forward, the stark contrast between the heated glares and adoring loyalty frankly bringing the throne back to her mind. How would she rule Wutai if the people didn't want her to? She'd need a hell of a lot of luck.

_Good luck, Lady Yuffie._

The ninja winced as the voice echoed in her mind, sending a twinge of pain up her spine. Reno had filled her every thought from last night despite the fact that she should have been considering her future duties as an empress. And when she said every thought, she meant every single whisp of an idea that brushed past her. All of it… weighed on her heavily.

_So I had cool points?_

The girl's breath hitched and her knees locked, vision blurring at the edges.

_Damn ninjas…_

Yuffie laid a hand over her mouth as her pace staggered, eyebrows furrowing upward.

_That's what bodyguards do._

Her eyes squeezed shut as her feet stopped all together, swallowing hard and cursing at the mirage of a crooked smile. No…

_You're a total geek._

A pulse shot through her heart like electricity, the low voice bringing the sting back to the brim of her eyes. Stop…

_Don't stay._

She brought a finger up to the bottom of her eyelid and didn't take an extra moment before impulse commanded her to wipe her eyes furiously. Stop.

_Come back with me._

Stop!

Yuffie forced her feet to the shelter of the nearest alleyway and didn't even pay mind to the surroundings that were darker and damper than the streets before leaning back onto the wall with her face in her hands. It was burning, welling inside her and she couldn't stop it.

A curse escaped her mouth as she felt a drop wet her palms and sank to the ground, gritting her teeth to bite back the pathetic sounds threatening to travel further than her throat. Slamming her fist onto the pavement, she tried to focus on the pain instead of the broken tone but almost as if to mock her when he wasn't by her side, the ache she expected was numb.

What was with her? She hadn't cried this much since her mother's death and she hadn't cried at all for 3 years. That bastard! It only took him a little over a week to turn her into this mess! Crying alone in an alleyway… blushing over the most trivial things… saying what she didn't mean.

_Reno… I…_

What had she meant to say anyway?

Yuffie lifted her head to lay against the wall and looked beyond the sliver of orange sky that shone in between the two pagodas where the 'fallen princess' as she had been dubbed, lay in a clumsy heap of herself and bit her lip almost to the point where she drew blood to try to hold back any more tears.

_Yuffs…_

The ninja squeezed her eyes shut as her throat began to burn with the need for release again.

"Don't call me that…" she shakily pleaded in a half-whisper. Her resolve was dissipating from underneath her, "When you call me that… I just…" her stormy eyes lowered as she placed both hands on the ground and summoned the last of her strength to even her breathing.

_I just…_

Yuffie swallowed hard and wiped the evidence of weakness from her eyes, taking a deep breath before bringing herself back to her feet on knobby knees. Sighing falteringly, she clenched her fists to stop them from shaking.

_Come undone…_

"Lady Yuffie! Lady Yuffie!" the ninja whipped her head around to the twin voices though she'd already known who their owners were and attempted to keep her face stony as if she wasn't just on the verge of an emotional breakdown seconds ago as she stepped back into the light.

"Yes," her voice was admirably even as she answered the two women, now rushing to either side of her. She couldn't, however, keep a little bit of surprise from her dark discs as the two bowed down to her with their eyes clenched shut in… apology?

"Sorry mi'lady," their unified tones held a hint of pleading, "we did not escort you back yesterday. We weren't informed that you would leave early."

Yuffie nodded at the two women in forgiveness for something they didn't need to be sorry for. She already knew they wouldn't accept her requests to stop being so formal with her about everything so forgiveness was the next best step that they could manage with their aristocratic standards. One thing Yuffie learned when she broke free from Wutai was casualty. Being able to socialize normally with normal people was an ability far underestimated by royal families including hers.

"We shall escort you to Lord Godo," their offer was more of a demand as they fell in step beside her. It was unnecessary as his residence was literally not even a 5 minute walk from where they stood. Still, she sighed in defeat with a smile that hopefully didn't appear weakened and lowered her gaze.

Yuffie couldn't help but wonder, if just in the slightest, what he meant when he said what he did. When she felt his whisper in her hair.

_I know… Me too._

The girl didn't know if he had the same thing in mind that she did and… come to think of it if she even knew what she was about to say. A fragment of a thought was there but not enough to finish whatever was confined to the tip of her tongue. She tugged at the end of her sleeve and wished her stormy discs didn't reflect her thoughts or show exactly how she spent more than half of her time through red eyes and shadows underneath them.

"Lady Yuffie?"

The girl snapped her head up to the interruption and was met with the sight of her destination. Blowing the bangs out of her face, she put off the escorts at her side and proceeded up the steps in an attempt not to distract herself any further.

"We shall pick you up in an hour Your Excellency," they echoed behind her.

No need. She would make this quick. Yuffie shut the door behind her and followed the crimson and bronze hued carpeting to a pair of twin pedestals much like the dual dragons at the main gate. The only difference being the polish on these smaller and more serpentine interpretations, more geared toward Leviathan no doubt. She laid a hand on the door and took a deep breath. Enough.

The girl pushed into the entrance and steeped forward in one fluid motion, meeting the gaze of an irritatingly calm Godo who kneeled but a few feet away, cup of tea in hand.

"Ah, Yuffie," he set his stare steadfast on hers, "I trust you've made the right decision."

Yuffie quirked an eyebrow to his surprisingly direct approach. She'd never expected him to get to the point so quickly not that she wanted to be misunderstood as desiring an indirect approach. It was just out of his character as a person and politician. She paused for half a moment before answering with, "…Yes."

"That's fortunate," her eyes widened at his smile: a gesture she hadn't seen more than maybe 3 times after her mother passed, "but before you take the throne, me must arrange a few ceremonies."

Yuffie's hands shook as the words bleed into her ears. Wait-

"Your coronation will have to be taken care of," he took a sip of tea though it was brief and left no room for Yuffie to talk. She bit her lip as he began to continue, "Then you will, of course, have to meet some superiors from other countries."

"Godo…" her fingers wrapped around the fabric of her sleeve, much rougher than it felt on the interior, and clutched there until she swore her knuckles must be white as she listened to him go on though she rather heard than listened.

"And you must have an open mind in the aspect of marriage…"

"Godo!" she shouted, every part of her body tensing which earned wide eyes from her father, "You don't understand!"

A stunned silence passed and her cry hung heavy in the large empty room until Godo set down his cup of tea and brought himself to his feet slowly. He took a moment to analyze her stressed expression before folding his hands behind his back with a sharp stare, "If you are to become Empress, control your impul-"

"I didn't come here to be tutored!" she cut him off sharply, her blood boiling at his superiority.

"What did you come for then?" he raised his voice at her with a glare.

_Forget about everyone else for a second. What do _you_ want?_

Every thought but that remainder of his voice vanished as she looked him dead in the eye with a stern stare, "I came to decline."

Godo looked taken aback, "Decline?"

"Yes," Yuffie's voice didn't falter despite the fact that she didn't know what the hell she'd just done. The words flowed but she didn't want them back, "As much as you like to think so, I'm not ready to rule."

"You need to be prepared again after that leave of absence you took but you'll be able to handle this," he shook his head in admonishment, setting Yuffie's veins on fire with disbelief at her refusal. How could he not take her seriously?

"Godo!" her address was firm and demanding of his full attention, "I'm a 19-year-old ninja and kleptomaniac, former terrorist," the title of terrorist was a bit of a stretch but that was what AVALANCHE had been dubbed years ago, "I can't control my impulses. I can barely handle having to wear pants much less _this_," she grabbed at her kimono, "and marriage is something that will frankly end in murder on one of our accounts if I'm assigned to it. And you expect me to become empress?"

"It's shameful for a princess to surrender so easily," Godo's glare became significantly more frigid and his voice took a low and austere tone.

"What? I've never seen a hypocrite point fingers so easily!" she shouted with fire in her eyes and daggers on the tip of her tongue.

"How dare y-"

"Shut up!" she cried with an uncontrollable rage and with it spilled 4 years of her grudge like magma, "We lost everything to Shin-Ra! We lost our people, our glory, our legacy, and we lost our pride because _you _couldn't stop them! You gave it up and our country suffered. People lost their lives, their families and you watched as they turned Wutai into a damn tourist attraction! You're incompetent for surrendering so don't say that I watched everything pass me by without realizing what happened. I was young but I was old enough to tell an emperor from a coward," she hissed.

Godo's tone was laced with poison as he yelled in retaliation, "If you find me so incompetent, why do you not become empress and improve what you call a 'tourist town'?"

"Because then you'd be giving up again!" she argued, "Take responsibility and become what Wutai needs!"

The man froze in place as he processed his daughter's words, her cloudy discs ablaze and tone dangerously sharp. She was 19… and though she was his daughter, she was still inexperienced and bratty but no words made more sense than the ones she just uttered, "You have far too much passion for your own good," he spoke after a short silence, drawing the connection he simply could not ignore, "You are… just like your mother."

Yuffie's eyes widened and her muscles dropped at the mention of her mother, making her suddenly aware of how on edge her body had been up until this point.

"That passion could serve to be your best trait or your downfall…" he sat back down in the throne and looked back at her, "You had better learn to control it by the time I pass or I will grieve for Wutai," he commented offhandedly.

"Wait…you're…" she fumbled to find words and felt like a fool as he'd calmed himself so quickly.

"Yes. I understand your decline," he answered with an expression that many would have considered flat though Yuffie could sense the approval in it, "and I am allowing you to leave."

"Godo…"

"One thing though," he interjected with an inky eyebrow raised, earning a mirrored response from his daughter, "don't disappear for years at a time again. The people may start warming up to you again if you come by more often. And that will make your future position significantly easier."

Yuffie chest tightened at the statement and her eyes shone as she nodded, "Okay. Godo th-"

"You can finish that statement next time you visit. For now, I believe your helicopter should be leaving," he cut her off in a cool tone.

"What!" the ninja snapped her head up to the clock and gasped at the time, "Oh Leviathan," she twisted one sleeve of her kimono and bit down on it to allow both hands to work on knotting the opposite over her shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Godo asked with a genuinely curious expression.

She muffled something that only coaxed furrowed eyebrows from her father before spitting out the tangled sleeve and repeating the same process with the other, "I can't run in these clothes…" she continued to hike up the bottom of the kimono and twisted it, knotting the fabric on the side and above her knees. This would do.

She spun around quickly and took a dash forward before glancing over her shoulder, "I'll be back, Dad…" and with that she pushed past the door, only leaving a small smile on Godo's face.

* * *

Reno's final view of Wutai's gates was crowded by messily placed ribbons of crimson as the wind whipped his hair in front of his eyes. Shame, it was a nice place but he had to detach himself. He knew that… but still.

"Reno," the familiar voice presented itself through the whir of the beating blades. The Turk tore his aquamarine gaze from the sight and back into the cockpit of the helicopter he stood next to. Rude sat at the helm with unfaltering features though if Reno had it his way, he'd be the pilot. It was true that the other Turk was the only one with some knowledge on piloting but he'd taken over, with no complaints from Rude, after their crash. Yet after the events of this mission, he really couldn't talk as they were even on their number of screw-ups.

"Yeah…" the redhead could tell that there was barely a fragment of sympathy behind his sunglasses despite his knowledge of Reno's circumstances. He didn't pity him, one trait that he was always grateful for in his comrade, "I know."

He took one last glance at the borders of Wutai before sighing, releasing the last breath that wanted to whisper 'Yuffie.' He placed a hand on the cold steel of the aircraft and his foot at the base before Rude caught his attention.

"I heard you crashed the helicopter," his smile was very faint but present and held a trace of sarcasm.

"Yeah?" Reno replied with a grin, a flash of white among the strands of scarlet, "Well I guess even I can make mistakes."

"Hey Turkey!"

Reno lowered his head and fended off the urge to grit his teeth at the thought that sounded more real now than ever if not distant. This was really going to take a while to fade wasn't it? The Turk began to hoist himself up into the helicopter when he felt something clutch the back of his jacket, earning unintentional wide eyes. He snapped around to the sight of desperate ashen eyes and cropped sepia locks he was just trying to erase from his train of thought. The kimono she wore was hiked up to just above the middle of her long legs, tied wherever it was originally meant to flow and light panting escaped her lips.

He stepped down from the helicopter, sure that his expression only revealed bewilderment and knitted his eyebrows at the girl, "Yuffie, what the hell are yo-"

"Ask me again," she cut him off with a strangely hopeful glimmer in her eyes, fingers still grabbing onto the folds of his jacket.

"Ask you what?" he questioned with an inkling of what she might have meant though it wasn't probable considering the circumstances.

She pouted and raised a palm before smacking him on the forehead, desperation and frustration once again becoming evident in her stormy discs, "Gods Turkey, you really are dense!"

He only blinked before asking what seemed a little more like what both of them connected to be the question, "…Will you come back with me?"

Yuffie's pout spread into a beam, her dark eyes shining behind the bags she'd freed from the restriction of the previous floral clip and her chest heaved as if she was about to say something. Reno's grin wavered, full of anticipation until she wrapped her arms around the nape of his neck and seized all of his doubt as she pulled his lips down to hers. All concern left him as his muscles untensed and his arms wrapped around her waist, returning the gesture he would have laughed at a week ago if he even considered the possibility. Now, it had become his indulgence.

In the fleeting moment where her lips parted from his, she smiled again.

"Yes?" he laughed.

"Yes," she beamed, refusing to unwrap her arms from around him which was fine with Reno who leaned in for another kiss. However, the enticement of her awaiting lips was spoiled by the sound of a certain Turk clearing his throat behind him. Reno's eyebrow twitched in annoyance at the man who interrupted the chance to reclaim what he craved and turned his head to face him.

"Hiya Rude!" Yuffie grinned at the bald man that held his hand loosely to the complicated joystick she remembered and waved at him one-handedly.

"Hello," he greeted before turning his stare back to Reno, "So we're expecting two back, I take it," he concluded. He wasn't aware of all the details between his friend and the ninja but he knew at least that much.

Reno glanced back to the bubbly ninja before replying, "Yeah," his smile was wide, taking Rude off guard for a moment as there was no double intention, sarcasm, or impurity behind it. He dare say that it was genuine.

"Do you want to tell Tseng?" he questioned.

"Nah," he replied with the blissful smile that was far out of character still plastered on his face. He leaned down and kissed the girl a second time before speaking again, though something in his tone told Rude that it wasn't really directed at him anymore, "Let's surprise him."

Yuffie giggled, only egging on more pecks from Reno who found himself physically unable to let go of her.

"_Love is a serious mental disease."_

But it was a pleasant one.

* * *

**Yay, a happy ending! There's no way I could let it end badly (don't hurt me kyuuby!) so yeah, just look forward to the epilogue and final chapter.**

**I'd be soo grateful to your opinions on this ending. I really toiled over it :)**


	20. Epilogue

**Disclaimer- Of course, I own nothing from FFVII including Reno and Yuffie.**

**(A/N) Ah, the epilogue and official conclusion of Under My Skin. Finished it faster than I thought I would. Really this chapter was my own selfish desire for some last minute lemony-ish fluff but I had a fun time writing it. That really goes for the whole fic. And, of course, after having so much fun with this one I _have _to write another Reffie in the future though it will be better quality hopefully. I like to think I learned something from writing this one. Anyway, here's your epilogue.**

* * *

This was not good.

Yuffie found herself in a compromising position, unable to take the offensive or keep her defensive and she was struggling to keep her cool.

"What's wrong Yuffie?" that arrogant smirk drove her insane, "make your move…"

The ninja scowled at the redhead who leered at her with eyes that were suggestive and indescribably irritating at the same time. She knew he was teasing her to knock her off guard. His thoughts were transparent to the girl, who consistently used similar tactics but it did nothing to lessen their effect. There was no denying that they kept each other on their toes and it was clear that she, indeed, had met her match.

Yuffie knitted her eyebrows together thoughtfully and pondered her next actions. If she was to use her fallback gambit, he'd surely see right through it. But there wasn't really any other choice was there?

She revealed her hand and kept her face as straight as possible. After a long silence, Reno snickered, slowly laying his assortment on the table. Upon seeing the combination, Yuffie exhaled in defeat.

"Well that's funny," he lowered his eyes at her as mischief played across his features, "I could have sworn there were only four aces in a deck," he smiled darkly.

Yuffie looked down to her cards: three aces, a queen of diamonds, and a two of spades. She could see Reno's hand consisted of two aces, a king of hearts, a seven of clubs, and a jack of spades. Crap.

"What I want to know," he paused to survey the girl, "is how you managed to hide those cards with the clothes you're wearing… or lack thereof."

The ninja looked down to her body, unclad of anything but his favorite pair of panties and a green polka-dotted bra trimmed with lace, courtesy of Tifa. Yuffie never expected her to be so supportive of her and Reno's relationship but she insisted that they had too much in common to overlook. The same couldn't be said for Cloud though, who even after time, was disapproving of the term 'boyfriend'.

"That's my little secret," she grinned in an attempt to match his insatiable friskiness. After all, it was one of those abundant days that the Turk got bored with his free time after work and Yuffie just happened to be bored all the same. These countless occasions resulted in a phone call and a visit to fritter the time away. Staying in Edge had advantages and disadvantages: she could be closer to Reno and the Strife 'family' but unless she was out roaming the streets, it got a bit redundant. To remedy this, the pair resorted to the occasional dinner or movie or, in this case, shed clothes.

"Either way, you know the rules," he smiled devilishly.

Yuffie decided not to argue and reached back to untie her headband before Reno stopped her with an addition.

"But I think it's only fair for _me _to decide what you have take off next," he snickered.

"What?" her eyes widened in contrast to her smile, "That's not fair!"

"And your little card trick was?"

The ninja's smile twisted into a pout as she crossed her arms, "Fine. What comes off?"

"I say…" he took the time to study her features before his stare roamed over her exposed body, "the bra goes," he waved his hand in front of her chest.

"The bra?" she raised her eyebrows.

"Of course."

"But-" she stopped herself as Reno pushed himself up from his chair, only donning his goggles, pants and… well the elastic that tied his hair back because she wouldn't let him get away with considering that a piece of clothing. It was only fair because he didn't consider her earrings, a piercing inspired by his small hoop, as an item to be removed either.

He sauntered over to her and bent down to meet her eyes, lifting her chin up to his level and smirking at her ever slight blush, "I could take it off for you…"

Yuffie smiled as he kissed her neck and trailed a thumb across her jaw line down to her chin. She ran her hands up his bare chest and joined them around his neck in response.

"Or…" he brought his face to hers again and captured her lips in a light kiss.

"Or?" she breathed. Time wasn't a factor in Reno's ability to make her heart pound. He scooped her up in his arms briefly before laying her down on the bed. The redhead ensnared her frame, which was becoming irresistibly more sinuous by the second and leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"We could always think of another penalty," he grinned and kissed her again. The ninja brushed off the fact that this could hardly be considered a consequence and raked a hand through his hair.

"Why couldn't I just take off the headband?" she hummed with a smile in her voice, planting small pecks around his face and neck.

"The headband is the only thing I want to see on you," he murmured and trailed a finger over her stomach, feeling goose bumps rise in its wake.

"I could say the same for your goggles…" she giggled as she arched her back slightly to brush more of his skin.

He quirked his eyebrow at her onyx discs, interestingly clouded over with light-hearted playfulness and intense allure at the same time, "Pervert," he smiled.

"Oh, look who's talking," she laughed before bringing him down to another kiss.

"You know, I've been meaning to ask you something," Reno whispered, his voice holding a bit of gravity.

"Yeah?" she puckered her lips at his sudden hint of sincerity.

"How long have we been together now?" he kissed her neck again.

"Umm…" she found it a bit hard to concentrate between his butterfly kisses and contradicting seriousness, "about 8 months. Why?"

"Well," he sighed, realizing he was about to break one of his most steadfast rules when it came to relationships, "I was wondering…"

Yuffie bit her lip in slight worry at his hesitance. He sighed again and took his eyes off her in an attempt to form the words in his mouth but the girl cupped her hands around his face and turned his head back to her with an anxious expression.

"What?" her tone wavered a little.

He took another moment of silence, trying to find the answer in her eyes before he asked but couldn't. The Turk swallowed his pride and exhaled sharply, deciding the band-aid method would be best for this.

"Do you want to move in with me?" he asked all in one rushed breath.

The girl couldn't bring herself to words as she observed the man's determined features masking his nervousness. She just laid there, hands still cupping his face and eyes wide. This question… from Reno? The king of 'keeping it casual'?

"Forget about it," he blurted, "It's fine if you say-"

"You dummy!" she screamed as she dragged him down into a hug so tight, Reno couldn't breathe. He winced as she squealed in his ear and pulled him into a deep kiss. When she stopped to finally take a breath, Reno seized the moment to pull away and recover from her affectionate barrage, raising his eyebrows at her with a hopeful grin.

"So is that a yes?" he asked.

"Yes!" she beamed.

Reno couldn't help but allow his smile to reach from ear to ear as he observed how blissful _she _was at the request. The ninja pulled him back down and tried to convey this indescribable happiness through her onslaught of kisses and laughs.

"Well this is a pretty convenient setup for a celebration, huh?" she giggled, causing Reno to look down at their semi-nude forms with a snicker.

"Yes it is…" he brought his smirk to hers as he slipped the lace strap off of her shoulder slowly, relishing the spiked breath in his ear. He let his hand travel from her neck to her chest and furrowed his eyebrows as he reached her bra and the foreign object that was now half revealed.

"Well well," Reno plucked the item from the polka-dotted silk and brought it up to her face with a grin, "this answers my other question," he laughed.

The girl bit her lip sheepishly as she laid eyes on the card he discovered. An ace of spades.

"Um… W-well about that," she stammered.

"Like I care," he growled seductively as he nipped at her ear and began to let his hands rove over her body again, free from the card he tossed onto the ground.

Yuffie lost herself in Reno's sweet kisses and whispers as she thought about what she would pack and how this: their listless days of sensual antics, would last longer than she anticipated.

Thank Leviathan for strip poker.

* * *

**Well that's that. The End.**

**Okay here come the 'thank yous' (deep breath)... First off, I want to once again thank BruHaeven and GlassMermaid for their Reffies. They were the first I read for the fandom and drove me to make my own (story and fanfiction account) though mine doesn't quite compare yet. A big thank you goes out to wantan who was my first reviewer for the story and also the creator of some AWESOME fanart! I was so impressed and flattered that the story served as some inspiration. I also want to thank BK-Black Knight who served as motivating feedback during early chapters as well as kyuuby. Thanks to SanctumAsylum who seems to be a fan of both of my RenoxYuffie fics and MySoulsYoursTakeIt for support and that ending you mentioned was really cool. I kinda wish I thought of that. Lol I'm also really glad that I converted AvAtarAmeobA and VioletDreamsOfDay into Reffie lovers, god knows they need more shippers :)**

**Finally, thank you to all of the reviewers and readers in general as well as any future ones and I hope that you all had as much fun reading this as I did writing it.**


End file.
